Love Songs
by Fuji Yuuta-kun
Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. With a broken bond, can love return to two souls seperated? Or will it cease to be? Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest. R&R, story better than summary. Read Chigiri first.
1. His Departure

Man, I so needed to start working on this story or I might have been working on it during the tennis season, which would make me work even slower. So I plan to finish this fic in two weeks, if possible. I really don't want to be in the middle of a match and suddenly can't recall the score (which I do normally, but that's beside the point) because I'm thinking of something new to add to the story. I think my coach might try and kill me. Just kidding, just kidding.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish, sorry it's taken me so long to start on your story.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see, it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO.

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

"Tezuka-bouchou..." The two boys were just looking at each other.

"Kunimitsu is fine to call me by, Ryoma." It was just the two of them, the rain coming down. It was such a fitting scene, love being seperated and the sky crying for them. Ryoma was the one who moved, clinging to the elder boy. The now freshman wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.

"I don't want to go." The rain was dripping down his frame, both boys getting soaked, but ignoring it.

"I don't want you to go." Dirty golden orbs looked up at the older boy. There was a slight pause before their lips met in a fleeting kiss. It couldn't remain long, for Tezuka's cell phone went right off. Tezuka had to take it, the caller being his mother. As soon as he shut his phone, he noticed that the other boy was gone. "Ryoma..."

The parting hurt more than either had thought it would. Ryoma wouldn't leave his room, not even for dinner. His father intruding some time later, to find his son caught in a haze, running a high fever. This was dealt with and the fever was gone by morning.

The airport was packed, many people going places for Christmas and New Years. For him, he was leaving for America. The school year was over with, so he would be leaving. He was surrounded by his teammates, who were all hugging him and paying a lot of attention to him. Two years felt like it would be forever.

"It's so unlike Tezuka to not be here to say goodbye to O-chibi-chan (Little guy)." Kikumaru had Ryoma in a hug, cuddling the younger boy while pouting.

"He sends his farewell, Ryoma. He called me this morning and sounded terrible." Oishi had the floor. He wouldn't be there had Tezuka ordered him to go, otherwise he'd be looking after his sick friend.

"Saa... That's horrible." Fuji tugged Ryoma from Eiji's embrace to hug him. "Make sure to keep playing tennis, Echizen, and keep in touch with us all."

"I will Fuji-senpai." Ryoma wiggled away from the hug to get his hair ruffled by Momoshiro. "Momo-senpai..."

"You be good, Ryoma." Momo gave a thumbs up. "And make sure to come back quickly." Ryoma nodded as his plane was called. Everyone looked miserable.

"You'll be back before you know it. And we'll be waiting." Taka and Kaidoh seemed to be thinking the same thing as they spoke in unison.

"Yah."

"Saa... Echizen. Here, a reminder of everyone waiting for you to return." Syuusuke was holding out a picture towards Ryoma. Arai had taken it for them not that long ago. It had him in it, Fuji, Kaidoh, Inui, Tezuka, Momo, Taka, Eiji, Oishi, Sakuno, Tomo, and Coach Ryuzaki. A small smile played across the youth's lips at seeing Tezuka's hand on his shoulder. He could still recall Tezuka pulled him close to him in the picture, it's why his face looked a little shocked and a little like he was laughing. Many were laughing, making funny poses, or, in the case of Momo and Kaoru, picking a fight in the picture.

"Thank you." Ryoma tucked it away into his carry on bag. He gave a bow and a wave before following his parents to go board the plane that would remove him from the scene for two years.

In two years time, things had changed so much. A confession of love didn't stop Tezuka from dating the elder Fuji brother, who liked taking Tezuka out to rub it in Yuuta's face. There was a small love between the two, but it was only that, small. It was more out of interest than love, both were lonely and needed another. Tezuka constantly check his phone for messages from Ryoma, Fuji constantly tracking Yuuta's whereabouts with his own phone. Whenever Tezuka would comment that Fuji was stalking his brother, the other would counter with that he was being a good elder brother and making sure his brother remained out of trouble. Their relationship turned back to friendship, it ending mutually, and Fuji was content with having his brother back at his side. Tezuka still waited.

Two years time struck Ryoma hard. He was depressed going back to the sixth grade for a couple months. He mainly spaced out and didn't pay attention. The teachers didn't push him, but scolded him for his lack of using english. For the first couple months back, Ryoma never picked up his racquet. No matter what, he couldn't be motivated to play until he got a text from Oishi wishing him well and hoping he's doing well in tennis. It reminded Ryoma that he would fall behind if he didn't practice and keep his game up. As summer break ended, Ryoma was back playing tennis, and played out tennis for his middle school till the day he left. He was more awaiting the day he would play for high school with all his friends. He wasn't apt to make friends in America, he didn't want to. He had friends, and they were all waiting for him.

"I leave for home in a week." Tezuka read the text message to the close group at morning practice. Syuusuke was cuddling his little brother, who had been more caught up in the conversation than to notice the unwanted affection from his elder brother.

"We should throw him a party." All eyes moved to Momo.

"Yah. The day after break. To clebrate his return." Eiji was all for the idea.

"I'm sure if I ask my dad, we can have a party at the shop." Everyone broke out smirking, except Yuuta, who couldn't understand why everyone liked the idea, and Kaoru, who didn't smirk unless given good reason to.

"Me and Yuuta can get cake. Tezuka can get a present from all of us. Momo can get music. Eiji and Oishi can work on party supplies. Inui should prepare Inui juice for a welcome back. And Kaoru can get candies and other little treats." Fuji seemed to tell everyone what they were doing, and no one objected. Yuuta could only feel his brother being a little feared.

"I'll talk to my dad tonight." Taka nodded.

"How much should we pitch in, Fujiko-chan?" Fuji began to think.

"How about 514¥? (roughly $5)" The group nodded, and it was agreed. The plan for Ryoma's party was set in motion. Taka's father welcomed the party and said he would close early for them. So everything was sent into motion. The arrival of Ryoma would come soon enough.

--

A new fic started. And it's actually enjoyable. Not that I don't enjoy pillar pair, I think Fujicest is my main specialty. Anyway, R&R

Next Chapter: Ryoma returns back to Japan, but is life like how it used to be? And how will he settle into life back in Japan and a new school. And what about his relationship with Tezuka? Stay tuned.


	2. His Return

xD Chapter two is up right after one, because I kinda wrote this chapter first. But anyway... I just reread the fairy tale story, man I just realized I called Yuuta a girl in a small section. I need to work on better spelling, since I'm a crappy speller. But as promised, my pillar pair story. Please don't get confused by the school year changing. I remembered half way through my other fic that I did the school year the American way, this story will go by the Japanese school year.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish, sorry it's taken me so long to start on your story.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see, it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO. I also do not own Kimeru, but he's still kara kara love, playing Fuji Syuusuke in the musicals and playing Ryoma Echizen in one of the musicals (Suddenly I keep hearing Koori no EMPEROR from The Imperial Match Hyoutei Gakuen in my head).

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

How long has it been since he left? Not even he could remember. It was almost time, he would be reunited with the one he cared for most. Dirty golden orbs were watching the second hand tick past. Class was going by so slowly. He could imagine that the school year has started with out him, everyone enjoying the school year while he had yet to make his appearance. Almost there.

"Ryoma, what're you doing? Just because you're almost out of school, doesn't mean you can slack off." The teacher was right at her desk.

"Mada mada (Still some way before goal)." Ryoma muttered under his breath. He felt a smack on his head before the teacher went back to talking about high school. Ryoma saw the car pull up, a smirk playing across his lips. Finally it was time. Ryoma got to his feet, all eyes on him.

"Ryoma?" The teacher was surprised. Ryoma just pointed to the clock, which then just struck three and all the bells rung. The tennis prodigy was the first out the door, going right to the car that had only pulled up seconds ago. His mother was driving, something he could see since his dad was still on the lazy side and asleep in the passenger seat. Ryoma hopped in the back seat, getting comfy on the way to the airport. He would make it back to Japan in time for the last week before summer break. It would give him enough time to participate in some of the tennis practices and get to know the high school. Only when at the airport did he realize his mother was using a rental car, having given their car to an old friend of her's. Going back to Japan was for good, it would be the final place that he would stay in, unless he felt like leaving it himself.

The airport seemed packed, mainly people heading places for summer vacation. Checking their luggage was no problem, it was waiting for their plane to be called that bore Ryoma to death. He sat there with his cell phone. Service would be shut down on it by the end of the month, since they cancelled all their plans and the bill would be sent to their change of address. His old phone, which died once he arrived in America, was sitting in his carry on bag. The youth sat flipping his phone open and closed, bored but also slightly wishing to see any sign from his senpais, wishing him luck on his return back to them.

Ryoma gave a small comment to his parents that he was going to the bathroom. Tucking his phone in his pocket, he figured the others wouldn't message him since they would be asleep. How he hated the difference in time zones. The tennis player walked right by the bathroom, wandering around the airport. It would be the last time he was here, last time he would hear english being fluently spoken, last time he would get stuck on a layover going home. Yes, Japan was his home, it was where all his friends were waiting for him. It was more familiar than his home in America. Just hearing about the country caught his interest, and right now it came from an announcement overhead, calling his flight number. He quickened his pace back to his parents before heading to the boarding area, other families were there as well. Boarding was simple, but he couldn't stand being stuck between his parents, ending up switching seats with his mom to sit near the aisle.

How quickly Ryoma fell asleep on the plane. He had awoken in time for the plane to touch down in California. His father pushed him along, since they had to go from the current plane to another, which was already there and had started boarding the second they had gotten off their plane. There wasn't a need to rush, but Ryoma felt like he had been, or maybe it was his half asleep self that thought so. But he was soon fast asleep in the window seat on the plane that would take him back to Japan. Perhaps it had been a good thing to stop sleeping American time and starting sleeping the times as if he were back in Tokyo. His cd player was what kept him asleep most of the time, Kimeru playing out the headphones.

He awoke quickly at someone shaking him awake, it was his dad. He was saying something, but Ryoma couldn't hear of the sixth repeat of 'Chain of Mind.' The boy tugged his headphones down and his father repeated him.

"We land in ten minutes. Are you excited to be back?" Ryoma nodded as he rubbed his eyes. They had spent six hours on the plane to San Francisco, and the last nine and a half on the plane to Tokyo. It was almost five in the morning back on the east coast, it meant the current school day was gone at the high school, the time there being almost seven at night. And the plane did touch down a little after at that time. The lights were beautiful in Ryoma's eyes, the city lit up. He was so even more happy when they entered the house he had occupied during his first year at Seishun Gakeun middle school.

Ryoma tossed his bags into his room, collapsing on his soft bed. It felt so cold, but his room felt so welcoming to him. It was like returning back to an old friend, they never change. Ryoma dragged himself back out for dinner, his mother still thanking his cousin for taking care of the house while they were gone. She would be leaving them to go live on her own the same day Ryoma went on summer break. At those words she lifted up a backpack and gave it to the now first year at Seishun Gakuen High School.

"Here's the homework you missed, Ryoma-kun. A girl would come and drop them off with copies of her notes for you." Ryoma almost fell over at the bag being so heavy. So much in so little time, the school year had only started a couple months prior. He literaly dragged the bag off to his room to actually try and take a look at what he was doing before he went to school tomorrow. If it wasn't for tennis, he would've just pondered coming back during summer to go to school after the couple weeks break.

Dinner was so nice. Ryoma was so excited to be eating japanese food again. His father almost choked him by patting him on the back when he was working on his third helping of the food. Ryoma decided after that that he was going to depart for his room, rather than hear more from his parents, but found the promise of cake to commemorate their return much more promising than homework. The sweet hit the youth's mouth and just seemed to melt. He was collapsed on his bed with one fourth the cake before him. He had stolen it himself and didn't even get scolded, just heard his father give a laugh and pretend to have taken a piece and that's why so much was missing. Ryoma gave a thought about sticking some cake in his bento for lunch. Cake was the gift that just kept giving.

It was a good thing Ryoma was wired and on a sugar high, it helped him actually get what he was doing. The handwritting was more clear than any boy's handwritting, but it was so...girly. He actually managed to finish half the stack by midnight, if anything was correct no one would know. He crammed even harder to finish the rest of the pile, finding the notes to help quite a bit. When the clock struck five, Ryoma was finished. He slipped over to his bed and tried to sleep, but couldn't find himself tired. Had his body gone back to American time? The restless boy got up and copied all the notes into his own notebooks, so atleast he could read them and not feel like he would get picked on if someone looked over his shoulder. He could hear his mother at his door, was it already time to get ready for school? Ryoma had fallen asleep at his desk, his pencil having scribbled a bit on the page in his sleep. Ryoma sat up and erased the marks, finishing writing the last bit that would complete his notes, before gathering everything into his school bag. He changed into his school uniform, finding the blazor and his school shirt to be slightly too big, and the tie didn't fit his image. He was then rushing to stuff clothes and his hat into his tennis bag, he aimed to attend practice after school, even if he hadn't even unpacked yet. His tennis bag was lighter than his bag for school, which he felt would break his back. He gathered the spare notebooks up and placed them in his racquet bag, making sure they wouldn't get damaged, before heading down for breakfast. He drunk his orange juice quickly, before eating a piece of toast, then enhaling his glass of milk, stuffing the other piece of toast in his mouth as he got up. He grasped his bento after he put his bag on his back and slung his racquet bag over his shoulder. He slipped on his shoes and headed out the door, eating his toast on the way to school.

Finding the school came from memory, having passed by the school before his leave back to America. It was difficult both ways, having already started a year and then leaving, and then finishing a year to return to having missed half the year. There was no way of winning. Many kids were arriving at the high school building. It felt so different than how he had seen it years ago. He had arrived after, if they had it, morning tennis practice, but before school would start. The courts seemed empty, so the newest student questioned it. The small structure he found to house the tennis bags was only cluttered with racquets and bags. He found himself blinking at the bags next to each other that read 'Fuji S.' and 'Fuji Y.' He dropped his bag and pulled the notebooks out before heading into the school. The principal had been expecting him, welcoming him right in. Ryoma had drowned out most of what he had been saying, only thinking about getting back to school. He shuffled right behind the elder man as he was lead to his classroom. The teacher was a younger looking man, possibly not even in his thirties. The class? Some he could recall from middle school. The three Ryoma noticed right away were Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo, all dying to rush over to him as he moved to the center of the room near the teacher. He then noticed Sakuno and Tomo.

"This is our transfer student, he's coming here all the way from America. He went to Seishun Gakuen middle school for a year, so most might recall him." Ryoma bowed.

"Echizen Ryoma." The teacher instructed him to sit towards the back in an empty seat, which he did without complaining. Katsuo sat right behind him, Horio to his right, and Kachiro right behind Horio. Sakuno sat in front of Horio and whispered back to Ryoma.

"Ryoma-kun, did you get all your assignments and the notes?"

"Ah." Ryoma shuffled around his stuff to hand her all the notebooks back. "Thanks." Sakuno took the notebooks, Tomo whispering to the female from her right side. It was an interesting morning, people seemed more interested in summer break than classwork. When it came for lunch, Ryoma went up front to the teacher with his bag.

"Ryoma-kun?" He asked.

"I have all the assignments done from the beginning of the year." Ryoma dug around his back and started to pull out all his assignments, piling them according to subject. When complete, his bag was much lighter, only containing his notebooks.

"Ah." The teacher just sat there blinking at the stack of papers. "Thanks..." He sweatdropped realizing how he'd be spending his summer break. Ryoma nodded, heading back to his desk and grabbing his bento.

"Ryoma, where're you going?" Horio called after him. Ryoma pointed up.

"Roof." He was joined by Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro. A couple minutes followed and Sakuno and Tomo wandered up there, but they had some guests.

"Ha, so it was true. You have returned, and you didn't even come say hi to me." A familiar figure stated.

"Ah, Momo-senpai." Ryoma paused in eating a bit of his cake. "Inui-senpai, Kaidoh-senpai."

"Welcome back, Ryoma." Ryoma nodded.

"You didn't come to practice, so we wondered about it. But Fuji's younger brother told us your bag was with all the others, so we decided to come find you." There was a short snort behind Momo.

"The name is Yuuta." Yuuta himself and his elder brother slipped right past Momoshiro.

"Ryoma, welcome back." Fuji smiled and waved.

"Ah, that boy I beat and Fuji-senpai."

"It's Fuji Yuuta!" Yuuta calmed down at his elder brother putting a hand on his shoulder. Had they been younger, it would've been his head, but he held some inches on his elder brother.

"You go here, now?" Ryoma's question went right to Yuuta, the boy nodding.

"Yes." Momo pointed to Yuuta.

"He's another rival of your's for a regular position." Ryoma raised an eyebrow.

"Mada mada dane (you still a long ways to go)." Ryoma finished his cake. "Where's everyone else?"

"In their classrooms. We're your greeting crew." (Yuuta: Except me, I got dragged. Like I'd want to greet you.) Momo called out loudly, drowning out Yuuta's words.

"So mean, Yuuta. You don't wanna bring greetings to your junior?" Yuuta was heading back inside.

"Not really. I wanna eat, Aniki."

"Yuuta" Fuji followed after his brother, the sudden yelling of Yuuta for Syuusuke to stop calling his name being the last thing the group hears.

"Are they always like that?" Ryoma was sipping on a bottle of milk, saving his can of Ponta for after practice.

"Yah. They seem to get along well. To my data, Fuji's game has gone up quite a lot since Yuuta's arrival here, same can be said about Fuji Yuuta. I'm most interested in recording your new data, Echizen." Ryoma couldn't help but smirk, same old Inui. Momo joined them for lunch, but Kaidoh and Inui left back for their classrooms. There were a couple times where Ryoma had to smack Momo away from his lunch, but did offer part to the elder boy, who shared some of his own with the first year. Lunch went by quickly, the afternoon flying by even quicker.

Ryoma was late to practice due to being the newest to the class and had to do classroom duties. He found himself stumbling into the club room in the middle of the Fuji brothers changing, both pairs of eyes looking to him. Ryoma could feel the blood draining from his face as he spun right around on his heels to head right out of the club room. He had been the unlucky one to stumble upon an intimate moment between the two boys. The image was still stuck in his mind. Fuji Yuuta pressed back against the cubbies, only in his shorts, by the elder Fuji brother. Lips had been locked until both had become aware of someone's notice a split second after his entrance. Ryoma stood right outside the door, leaning against the club room's side.

"You look like you say a ghost." Momo was right next to Ryoma, Oishi rushing right over at noticing Ryoma's state.

"Are you alright, Echizen?" Oishi felt Ryoma's forehead.

"It's nothing." There was a loud crash in the building right next to them as Yuuta emerged, fully clothed and racquet in hand. The look on his face let them know he was in a bad temper. The regular uniform that was on the second year's form caught Ryoma's attention. So that was what Momo had meant earlier by him being his rival for a regular position. Three sets of eyes were soon focused on Fuji Syuusuke as he walked from the building.

"Yuuta, don't be mad." At being ignored, Fuji huffed.

"Are you two fighting again?" Oishi asked, attention drawn away from Ryoma for the moment.

"He's mad at me again. Honestly. Saa... but it just means he cares more." The smirk that had played across the tensai's lips was playful yet sadistic.

"I wonder in what world does his words actually make sense." Momo muttered, only getting a glare from the third year, but it was only quick for Fuji had taken off to chase after his younger brother. Attention went back to Ryoma who had started to move to the club room door.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ryoma nodded.

"Yes, I just got shocked, that's all." The color had returned to Ryoma's flesh and conversation was ended. He entered the club house and quickly changed. It felt weird not having his old regular uniform on, but it didn't bother him. He was stepping out of the club room, and tugging on his cap, when a familiar voice caught his attention.

"You're late." Dirty golden orbs looked over to the captain.

"Sorry, it couldn't be helped. I had classroom duties." Tezuka moved over and placed a hand on Ryoma's shoulder.

"I meant on returning back to Japan." Ryoma blinked a couple times before tugging his cap down a little.

"The time difference is a killer, and my parents told me the wrong date, and I got in late last night, too late to even see the practice." The third year could only nod.

"Welcome back. Now go practice." Ryoma looked up.

"No laps?" Tezuka was the one to blink this time.

"I'm overlooking your tardy." Ryoma gave a small smile.

"Thanks." Ryoma rushed off to practice. He was lucky and played Yuuta in a practice match. The other boy had improved, either that or the constant glaring from Syuusuke was creeping him out. The elder brother was quite content on watching his little brother play Ryoma. It was an outcome that he enjoyed, Yuuta winning in the tie-breaker. Ryoma noted he would have to train harder. If Yuuta had became stronger, than everyone else probably had too. Ryoma had taken a seat on a bench, his eyes wandering over to notice Fuji babying Yuuta, which seemed to be annoying the younger brother.

"They're always like that." Momo had taken a seat next to the first year, handing him a bottle of water, which he accepted.

"Do they ever seem more than just normal brothers?" Momo stared at Ryoma, did he really call the Fuji brothers normal? In his eyes, they were far from normal. Mortal enemies fit better.

"Er... Sibling rivals is more like it. They're far from normal. And Fuji was always abnormal to begin with." Ryoma paused in sipping his water. "Why would you ask that?"

"It's nothing." Ryoma didn't feel like mentioning it. What went on between the two brothers was none of his business. Blue eyes noticed him looking over, and the stare caused him to look away to watch Eiji and Oishi playing singles against each other, which was an interesting sight.

"Say, Momo, can you bring something to Tezuka for me?" Fuji was smiling sadisticly while holding an envelope out to Momoshiro.

"Uh sure." Momo had taken the envelope at noticing the smile become sinister for a split second, causing him to jet out of there. "Later, Echizen."

"Saa... Echizen-kun..." Fuji had taken to sit down, back towards the courts.

"Fuji-senpai." Ryoma gave a short greeting, going back to drinking his water.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Ryoma's eyes moved to stare at the third year right next to him.

"What goes on between you and your brother is between you two. It's none of my business." Fuji smiled.

"Hehe, such a good boy, Echizen. Just keep it to yourself. Yuuta is quite shy when it comes to our relationship." Ryoma rolled his eyes, unknowingly doing it the same time as the object of the talk was.

"Aniki, he's not concerned with our affairs, so just leave him be. You're only being a pest." Ryoma had to pause in drinking.

"So you two have more than a brotherly love." Fuji chuckled.

"If you keep a secret, then yes. But it stays right here, this info." Fuji was tapping to his head.

"Aniki..." Yuuta hissed.

"Ah. I don't gossip."

"We promise you'll never see a scene like that again." Yuuta coughed.

"Don't you mean, YOU promise? It was your fault." Yuuta had started to walk away at this point.

"Aw, Yuuta" Fuji frowned before getting right to his feet. "Later Echizen." Fuji had taken running after Yuuta, catching up with him a couple feet away, and clinging to his arm.

"Practice is over." Tezuka's voice announced the end to practice. Momo had slipped back over as Ryoma had started to drink his ponta.

"What was that about?" Ryoma got to his feet.

"Nothing. Just correcting a mistake I made earlier." Momo believed he meant a mistake he made during the match.

"Ah. Do you need a ride home?" Ryoma shook his head.

"I'm fine. Go ahead. I have something to do." Momo blinked while nodding. Ryoma hung around a couple minutes after everyone else was leaving, heading to the club room after most had already left. Ryoma was sitting on the bench, taking in the solitude, when he was joined.

"Shouldn't you have left already?" The first year looked up at his captain.

"Bouchou (Captain)." Tezuka moved over and grabbed his bag.

"You shouldn't stay long." Ryoma was right up to his feet and grabbed his bag.

"What are you doing over summer break?" The elder boy looked to his side, right at the younger boy who was walking right aside him.

"Regulars are going to tennis camp. You're signed up to go as well." Ryoma blinked.

"Tennis camp?" Tezuka nodded.

"Regulars from the other schools will be there, so we'll be practicing with old rivals." Ryoma nodded, it sounded interesting. "It all matters if you can catch up to all that you've missed."

"I did all the work I missed." Ryoma found himself stiffling a yawn, seemed his body was almost caught up with the current time zone, almost.

"Then we leave a week after break starts. It gives everyone time to do summer homework." The first year found himself nodding. He couldn't bring himself to speak his mind, and the silence caused the third year to look down at his kohai (under classman). "Something on your mind?"

"Eh? Nothing." There was a slight silence before both boys spoke at once. "Bouchou-"

"Echizen." More silence as both boys looked at each other, Tezuka clearing his throat. "You go first."

"Er... I was wondering..." Ryoma was looking down and to the side, anywhere but at the elder boy. "Do you wanna catch a movie saturday?" He was aware it was Tuesday, and he hadn't even started to unpack, but this felt like something he could like.

"A movie?" The captain found himself blinking. "Any movie in mind?" Ryoma looked at the other. Was this his way of saying sure?

"Er, I don't really know what's playing." Ryoma found himself looking down. He hadn't even thought about what was playing.

"I'll bring in a list of what's in the movies for you tomorrow."

"Thanks." Ryoma felt a pat on his head, causing him to close his eyes.

"This is where we part. See you tomorrow, Echizen."

"Ryoma." Both boys had paused where they would go their seperate ways.

"What?" Tezuka was now looking at Ryoma.

"Call me by my first name."

"...Ryoma." The name caused a weird feeling to arise. He had only really called the other boy by name, years ago, when the boy was playing a match or he was giving out orders, discipline, or laps (but aren't laps the same as being disciplined?). Ryoma smiled.

"Good. Till tomorrow, senpai." Ryoma took off running the opposite way, leaving Tezuka behind to watch his retreating form. Ryoma was happy, he would get to go see a movie with his captain this weekend.

--

Man, I originally wrote this as the first chapter, but it turned into the second and became longer than I expected it to be. But it still turned out alright. R&R

Next Chapter: Planning and practice. Oh, and life returning back to how it had felt back in a middle school, including the return of Inui's infamous concoctions...er I mean, juices. Stay tuned.


	3. His scheme

Don't worry, Squishy, I just posted it yesterday. I've been...lazy? and haven't started anything new in a while, so this was perfect. xD I'm still thinking about what movie to have them see. I'm debating between Brokeback Mountain, Sweeney Todd, or L Change the World (Yay for Deathnote). I'd rather have them see L Change the World than the One Piece movie, L is more entertaining to me than Luffy (Especially since he's running and dodging bullets, which is funny). Any fav movie you want me to use, post in the comment. I'm half awake while starting this, so...yah. I slept in because there's no school today. Bad idea, but better than being up at 6:30 am. xD I noticed I added a lot of things I don't own, but it's still funny to read it. And this would so have been posted in the morning, but I had to rewatch Dream Live First first to see where they said Tezuka got his clothes from ( and ended up watching both parts and sing along, sing-a-longs are fun).

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see, it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO. I also do not own Brokeback Mountain, Sweeney Todd, or L Change the World, they're all real movies playing in the movie theatres right now. They're rightfully owned by their directer people (like that spelling makes sense). I also do not own Death Note. I also do not own Shibuya Cine Palace, it's a real movie theater in Shibuya. I also do not own Doko ni Iku no (Where are we going?), nor Shuji Kashiwabara (also he is pretty cute). I also don't own Euro Space, which is another movie theater in Shibuya. I also do not own 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, which is another movie. Nor do I own Team Batista no Eiko, which is a movie mixed between J-Horror and mystery (Atleast to me it seems the best way to describe it, but with some suspense).

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

The first year arrived at school early, blinking at only regulars practicing in the morning. Ryoma was quickly called over by Momo. He was told he would be joining them at morning practice. But even practice went by quickly. Echizen was quite surprised at the end of practice by Momo, Kaidoh, and Yuuta talking like best friends, espcially Momo and Kaidoh. The world was coming to an end. So Ryoma chose to ignore it and head to the club room, changing and leaving all his tennis things there. He was soon joined by the others, and the building flooded with noise and talking. Even through this, Yuuta's yelling was well heard.

"Aniki! Stop taking my clothes out of my bag and putting in ones that you like!" Yuuta was fidgity, annoyed that his brother decided to remove what would've been his clothes to put under his uniform with clothes he thought would look nice on the younger boy.

"Saa... But Yuuta, those clothes wouldn't look nice-"

"They weren't to wear around the place." Chuckles were flooding out as Fuji pouted.

"I was trying to be helpful..." Yuuta dropped his tennis bag and grabbed his school bag, already in his uniform.

"Don't. Don't touch my tennis bag, don't touch my clothes in it, don't go near it." Yuuta huffed before leaving the clubroom. Fuji sighed in defeat, getting pats on the back by Eiji and Oishi, who tried to cheer him up. Ryoma only figured people were losing their minds, was that kind of arguing normal? Especially when they were supposed to be more than brothers?

"They're always like that in the morning, Ryoma." Momo seemed to be reading Ryoma's mind a little, or rather just repeating the same thing he had said yesterday.

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma grabbed his school bag and headed out of the room, Momo following right at his side. Their conversation mainly contained Momoshiro's questions about America and what the younger one has been doing in the past two years. Conversation died at Tezuka standing outside the first year's classroom.

"Bouchou." Both boys gave a small bow, being kohais to the captain. Tezuka just held out some paper to Ryoma, who accepted them, and walked away.

"What's that?" Momo looked over Ryoma's shoulder, not like it was hard, seeing as he held quite some length in height on the other.

"Movie times." The second year blinked.

"You going to see a movie?"

"Mhm."

"With Tezuka?"

"Mhm."

"Seriously?"

"Mhm."

"Wow."

"Mhm."

"Ryoma, stop reading that and actually pay attention." Dirty golden orbs looked up at the second year just in time to see the Fuji brothers right there, which caught the notice of Momo.

"Saa... Ryoma is going to see a movie with Tezuka? You should go see L Change the World." Ryoma blinked.

"L Change the World?" Yuuta was the one to nod.

"Yah. It's the sequel to Death Note, and has the detective L in it. But he's not battling Kira, instead it's a weird environmental group that wants to "cleanse" the world of excess population by infecting it with a deadly virus. So L has to help save humanity." Momo was the blinking.

"What?"

"Ah, so a Death Note movie, sounds interesting."

"Hehe, I knew Ryoma would actually read manga." Fuji snickered.

"Sweeney Todd came out not long ago, I heard it's good. Has musical parts to it. It's based on a musical, or something like that. All about a man's revenge and stuff." Three pairs of eyes were on Momo.

"You don't even know what it's about..." All four sweatdropped.

"Not really." The three sighed.

"Hm... I also heard that Brokeback Mountain was playing at night in Shibuya Cine Palace. That is a very good movie. It's about two cowboys, and they end up gaining feelings for each other, but have to part and creates a long affair that they try to hide." Yuuta, Momo and Ryoma sweatdropped. Yuuta, of course, knew that Syuusuke had seen the movie so many times that the number was hard to recall.

"Sounds sad..." Syuusuke nodded.

"Yes, yes, it's that kind of movie that is a sappy love story." Yuuta smacked his forehead.

"Stop watching Nee-san's movies."

"Aww, but they're so good. You should watch them with me. I know, we'll go to the movies and see a movie. We can go to Euro Space in Shibuya, they're playing "Doko ni Iku no?" and I've wanted to see it. It's a love story between this guy, a gay shophand, and a "new-half" (a transsexual) bar hostess. But it's supposed to seem so real, minus the burning body is so a dummy." Syuusuke had moved over to cling to his brother. "Please see the movie with me? I'd feel all out of sorts going to see it alone. And Shuji Kashiwabara is just so hot. Please, Yuuta?" Yuuta had gone from glaring daggers at his brother to rolling his eyes.

"You do it all the time. How is this different?" Fuji pouted.

"Because it can be brother bonding time." This made Yuuta twitch.

"Like I wanna go see a love story. We minus as well be going to see Team Batista no Eiko." Fuji chuckled.

"But you have nightmares from even the dullest J-Horrors. I know, we'll see 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days." Yuuta made a disgusted face.

"That abortion movie? I'll pass." It was then that Fuji patted Yuuta's tummy.

"Aw, but don't you worry about if you got pregnant and wanted to get an abortion? That cute pudgy tummy would be all gone." Ryoma and Momo had been watching with quite curiosity as to where the conversation would lead to, and that point was Fuji on the ground and his brother storming off. The last part went way over joking.

"Stay away from me." Yuuta called back before going down another hallway to his classroom. Fuji didn't know which upset Yuuta more, the call him pregnant, or giving a small hint that Yuuta was gaining weight. But it was possibly his fault for giving the younger boy sweets when they're alone.

"Fuji-senpai, are you alright?" Momo helped the third year up, who was chuckling.

"Saa.. Maybe I went overboard. Oh well. I still wanna see that movie. Anyway, good luck movie hunting." Fuji was slightly walking at a slant down the hallway. It was possible that he hit his head, but neither boy wanted to correct the elder Fuji.

"That was...entertaining. Who knew Fuji actually had a hobby outside of cactus, tennis, a like for Inui juice, and those foreign films he goes on and on about. Oh and his taste in food, spicy..." Momo shuddered.

"Mada mada." Ryoma was looking over movies. "Some sound nice, the ones mentioned." The words earned a stare from Momo.

"Are you serious?" Ryoma nodded.

"Yah." The bell screamed, the two being unlucky to be right next to one. Momo gave a small wave before running off. Ryoma slipped into the room and right to his seat. The bell was only a warning that class would start in a minute, and being tardy meant old fashioned punishment, or rather better punishment than being paddled, but worse than being the only one to clean up after school.

Ryoma spent his day looking over movie times, thinking about what movie he wanted to see. Like the ones he heard his senpais talking about, he knew there was more behind the name. He didn't exactly want a funny movie, but ones that would fit him were mystery, horror, suspense, and sometimes at some extent, a drama, but that was still a bit out of the way for him to see. So even as the end of the day approached, Ryoma was unsure what to go see. Even these words were told to Tezuka, who seemed to frown at hearing of Fuji telling him movies. Was it a good thing to trust the third year's words?

"Why don't we see when we get there what we'll see." Ryoma blinked.

"Er, but some places aren't playing some. But Shibuya sounds the best, since according to Fuji-senpai, it's where the best and different movies are playing." Tezuka nodded. What they would deicde to see would be decided Saturday evening while in Shibuya. Unknowingly, a certain azure orbed male had other plans for the couple.

That night in the Fuji household, the two brothers were sitting on the couch, Fuji resting contently on his younger brother. Both pairs of eyes fixed on watching Brokeback Mountain for the...well no matter, it was a bunch of times that they've seen the foreign film, too many that one would lose track of it. Yuuta wasn't complaining, especially while chewing on truffles. Syuusuke was in charge of the popcorn and was content on eating it by himself. Their father was away, their sister was on a date, and their mother had gone over to a friend's house because she needed help.

"Say, Yuuta, what do you think of a double date?" Neither looked away from the movie.

"A double date?"

"Mhm, us with Ryoma and Tezuka." Yuuta looked at his brother, was he serious? Blue orbs looked up, sparkling as if he was scheming.

"Whatever." Fuji went back to the movie.

"Good. I think we should go see a good movie and drag the two with us. Of course, we'll go to dinner before hand. Where do you wanna eat, Yuuta?"

"I don't care."

"Aww.. don't be like that, you need to participate and have a say." Yuuta huffed.

"Fast food is better than being forced into a fancy resturant. It's not as suffocating." Fuji pouted as Yuuta killed his thoughts of nice resturants.

"Fine fine. We'll find a nice place in Shibuya for our double date." Yuuta popped another truffle in his mouth.

"Does Tezuka know about this idea?" A smirk played across the elder brother's lips.

"Nope. It's a secret." Yuuta just shook his head and went back to the movie, moving his lips to the words being said. He felt like he could recite the movie if asked to. Fuji stretched out to rest his head on the younger brother's lap. "Besides, it wouldn't be fun if they knew. And surely, Tezuka would reject the idea." Yuuta sighed, there wouldn't be anyway to change his brother's thinking.

The week continued just like this, Fuji's saturday night plans became more and more like a scheme to hook the boys up rather than create a nice date. And of course, Yuuta wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Then it was saturday, and all plans were being set into motion.

Tezuka found his cell phone ringing and picked it up without looking at the caller id.

"Tezuka, you're going to the movies with Ryoma-kun tonight. If you're in the Shibuya area, why not dine out with myself and Yuuta. I'll pay." Tezuka could only sit and blink.

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing. I just feel like being nice since it's your first date. Yuuta doesn't mind either, which is saying a lot. So will you?" Tezuka sighed.

"Fine." Syuusuke smirked.

"Good. I'll call you later and tell you where to meet us. Till tonight, Bouchou." Fuji hung up before Tezuka could say another word. The evening was perfectly plotted, and so far, Fuji's plans were going perfectly. Now just to wait till tonight, where the rest could be executed.

--

End to chapter 3. If you have any ideas on movies, then say what one you want them to see. I'd prefer one that's been talked about in this chapter. Or if you know another movie that's in theaters in any section to Tokyo, preferably Shibuya since it's where there's a wider range of movies playing. For those who're wondering, Shibuya is one of the twenty-three special wards of Tokyo. The wards that make up Tokyo are: Itabashi, Kita, Nerima, Adachi, Katsushika, Arakawa, Toshima, Nakano, Shinjuku, Bunkyo, Taito, Sumida, Chiyoda, Shibuya, Chuo, Koto, Edogawa, Minato, Suginami, Setagaya, Meguro, Shinagawa, and Ota. It was never made clear in what ward Seishun is in, but in the musical it was said that Tezuka shops in Shibuya, well got his clothes from a department store in Shibuya (For those confused about it, watch Dream Live First, Part 2, where they dress up as the guys from Cover 10, minus Taka who was left out on the cover). I would go on about the Kantou region, but I don't think it needs explaining. I went off on a long enough tangent. R&R

Next Chapter: The unplanned planned date of Ryoma and Tezuka. Is it a disaster at hand? And what about Fuji's secret scheme? And who can forget, Yuuta being dragged off to see some unkown movie. Stay tuned.


	4. His Evening

I would kinda freak if my first date was to see Sweeney Todd. I'd be like "wtf..." But I still wanna see L Change the World. L is love. This is where'd I insert a cackle, since I decided what movie the group will go see. You'll just have to wait, but my disclaimer gives it away. I couldn't help but have them dragged to it.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see, it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO. I also do not own Doko ni Iku no (Where are we going?). I also don't own Euro Space, which is a movie theater in Shibuya. I also do not own McDonalds or Starbucks. And I don't own any dranks that the group orders there either. They're all good drinks, though, and I'd really love to have a nice Vanilla Frappuccino right now, but I'll settle with vitamin water.

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

Yuuta was just gazing out the window at the lights. The giant screens were illuminating enough light by themselves, but Shibuya was surely a place for the nightlife. Mainly teens and young adults were in their area. His being was adoned in more common clothes, black cargo pants, thin long sleeve white shirt, and red t-shirt pulled over. Fuji was clinging to his arm, adoned in black flare pants that hugged his body tightly, and a thin long sleeved button up white shirt, that seemed a little more dressy than his casual clothes. Fuji was playing with his phone before making a phone call.

"Tezuka, you in Shibuya yet?" It was the sixth time in the last ten minutes that Fuji called them.

"If I tell you yes will you stop calling?" Tezuka sounded annoyed.

"Possibly. We'll meet up at the McDonalds on Bunakmura-dori." Fuji hung up without letting the other voice an opinion. The brothers were already on Bunkamura-dori. "Yuuta, I want to go to Starbucks." The elder was talking about the starbucks that wasn't too far away.

"Aniki, we're going to McDonalds, you decided so." Fuji huffed.

"So mean. We even go past it on our way to the movies." The two hung right outside the McDondalds for the other two to arrive. Soon they were joined by Tezuka and Ryoma. Ryoma wore black shores and a white t-shirt, his trademark Fila cap on his head. Tezuka wore black pants, a white t-shirt, and black vest. Yuuta felt more like their was about to go rob shop or something by their appearances, with everyone wearing something black. "We're all here, yay."

"Let's just go." The group of four went into the fast food chain, ordering and eating. Fuji controlled most of the conversation.

"So why did you choose this McDonalds out of all the ones in Shibuya?" Ryoma paused in eating his hamburger.

"Because it's closest to Starbucks and the movies." Fuji was smiling.

"Did you plan something, Fuji?" The said boy nodded.

"Yes. You two will be joining myself and Yuuta." The two other boys couldn't help but look to Yuuta as he choked on his soda.

"Aniki..." The elder brother simply waved his hand casually.

"It would honestly be awkward for you two to be alone. You need guidance. And I'm the perfect one to do so." Yuuta seemed uninterested in the conversation. There were better places to be, Shibuya offered so much, yet he was being dragged off to see a movie he never wanted to see in the first place.

"Do I even want to know what movie you're having us go see?" Fuji smiled innocently.

"Doko ni Iku no." He gained stares from Yuuta and Ryoma, who spoke in unison.

"Isn't that that love story one of the shop hand and the newhalf?!? Why that one?!?" It was quite clear to Tezuka that Fuji hadn't even let his brother in on all the details.

"I told you that I wanted to see it, Yuuta. And I'm not letting you see any scary movie." Yuuta huffed as he crossed his arms, chewing on the end of his straw.

"And you had to drag us into your plan?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. All is paid for by me." The elder brother flashed a smirk. Tezuka sighed in defeat, Ryoma and Yuuta had given up before. As they were leaving Yuuta fell back in step to talk to the other two.

"I'm sorry you both got dragged into his plans." His voice was a whisper, Fuji being too caught up in his own world to hear.

"I'm used to it." Tezuka admitted.

"Doesn't matter to me." Yuuta nodded before hearing his name being called.

"Yuuta, starbucks!" Fuji was pointed to the upcoming Starbucks. In a split second, the younger boy was being tugged off into the shop, the other couple just following behind.

"Do you guys want anything?" Fuji asked back to Tezuka and Ryoma. Both looked up.

"Wow, hot chocolate so close to summer?" Ryoma blinked. "Tall Vanilla Frappuccino." Fuji smirked.

"Tezuka?"

"Er, tall Espresso Frappuccino." Fuji approached the counter, still clinging to his brother's arm.

"One tall Espresso Frappuccino, one tall Vanilla frappuccino, one grade white chocolate mocha frappuccino. Yuuta, what do you want?" The lady behind the counter was just blinking at the group before her.

"Er, a tall caramel frappuccino." The lady nodded and registered it all. Somehow Yuuta ended up paying for starbucks, but he didn't mind. Except Fuji's constent words were getting on his nerves, but held his tongue. As soon as they left the shop, Yuuta let it out. "Stop being so embarrassing."

"Fuji-senpai is annoying Yuuta-senpai." The three elder boys stopped and looked to Ryoma.

"Did he actually just say my name?"

"Well, I've been trying hard to remember it since you're my senpai. And you don't like "Fuji's little brother" and Fuji is Fuji-senpai." Ryoma was sipping on his vanilla frappuccino, quite content on going back to blissful silence. The other three were just awestruck that Yuuta was called by name by Ryoma, who, not even a week ago, still referred to the younger Fuji as 'that guy I beat.'

"Saa... This will be good." Their continued their walking. No one really minding it. There was so much to look at, from the people to all the lights. Tezuka and Yuuta made a mental note when they passed by the Ramen Shop. Yuuta noticed that his brother had already finished his drink.

"If you don't actually let it touch your mouth, you'll never know if it's good or not."

"It tastes very good thank you very much." There was a pause in step as Syuusuke leaned up and kissed the younger boy. "And you taste as sweet as your own drink." Yuuta flushed pink and dropped all conversation.

The movie theaters came into view and they entered. The tensai left the trio skip over to get the tickets and returning quickly. "Let's go. Yuuta, will you buy me popcorn?"

"So you can keep it to yourself?"

"I'll be good and share." Yuuta then agreed.

"Do you ever get the feeling that the elder brother takes advantage of the younger brother?" Ryoma whispered to Tezuka as they followed behind the happy Fuji Syuusuke.

"I feel that way all the time, but it goes for anyone near him."

"Do you want anything?" Fuji's words caught their attention.

"Ponta." Ryoma could care less about popcorn or candy, he just wanted his normal juice.

"I'm fine." Fuji dragged Yuuta off to the counter to order. A part of the other couple felt a little bad for Yuuta being dragged around by Fuji, but was quite glad it wasn't them. As soon as Fuji happily got his popcorn and soda, Yuuta handing Ryoma his ponta, the trio headed right off to see their movie.

Some time later, the group exited.

"Remind me to never allow you to choose a movie." Tezuka and Yuuta said at the same time. Ryoma was playing with his empty can of ponta, which he tossed into the recycle bin.

"But it was a good movie."

"I would've taken horror." Yuuta stretched. "Even a foreign film."

"Fuji-senpai has weird taste in movies." Ryoma tugged his cap back on as they moved out into the warm summer air.

"He just likes different things. Really bad things." Yuuta found an arm laced around his waist, attention suddenly going to his brother.

"And you're a bad thing." Syuusuke whispered into his ear.

"You two need a room." Tezuka spoke up.

"There are plenty love hotels in the area. What do you think, Yuuta?" Yuuta went pale as a ghost before pushing his brother away and walking strides ahead.

"Go by yourself, I'm going home." Fuji just laughed.

"Tezuka-bouchou, do you have plans when we arriave back home?" Ryoma and Tezuka had fallen instride together. Had Fuji not started to walk ahead with Yuuta, and had overheard the words, would've pestered the two if they were going to go to a hotel.

"No."

"You wanna come over and hang out?" Ryoma was looking off to the side, part of him was wondering if it was a good idea.

"If it's fine with your parents, if not, you're welcome at my house." Ryoma looked up and nodded.

"Your house sounds better than mine." It was decided and the group caught the train back home and seperated. Yuuta apologising for his brother's horrible choice in movies. The captain and the first year returned to the Tezuka household.

"Tadaima."

"Shitsure shimasu."

"Okaeri." Tezuka's mother seemed to stop at noticing the younger boy. "Oh you brought home a friend." She bowed. "I'm Kuni's mother, pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, Echizen Ryoma. Pleasure to meet you." Ryoma bowed.

"I'll go make tea, do you boys want any snacks?" Tezuka looked to Ryoma who shook his head.

"No thanks."

"I'll bring the tea up to your room. Kuni-chan, why not invite your friend to stay over." Tezuka merely nodded before walking off. Ryoma bowed before following after his senpai. The third year's room was neat, everything had it's place.

"Kuni-chan?" Ryoma had taken to collapsing on Tezuka's bed, the other sitting in the chair at his desk.

"If you start calling me that, you'll be running laps for the rest of the week." Ryoma chuckled.

"Bouchou's kaa-san is interesting." There was a soft knock on the door as the said person entered the room with a tray containing two cups of tea, which she set down on the desk and excused herself, telling Tezuka to make sure to take good care of Ryoma while he was in their house.

"She likes when I bring friends home." Tezuka had pulled a cup of tea into his hands as Ryoma got up to take the other cup. Ryoma looked away as his spoke.

"If it's like this...can I call Bouchou 'Kunimitsu'?" Tezuka paused mid sip, blinking.

"Yes, you can." Ryoma looked back and gave a faint smile.

"Then you must continue to call me Ryoma." Tezuka gave a nod, going back to his tea. "And we're never letting Fuji-senpai pick out another movie."

"Agreed."

"Tuesday is our last day of classes before summer break. On Wednesday, do you want to hang out during the day? Then go to Taka's family's sushi resturant?" Ryoma's attention was grabbed at the end. Just the mentioning of the sushi resturant was enough.

"Sure." Tezuka gave a faint, what could be considered one, smile.

Tezuka got a kick out of his clothing being a size too big on the younger boy, who could care less. He was also content with his sleeping bag, which he didn't really use since it was so warm. The night just seemed to fly by, mainly from the two boys caught between moments of silence and talking, but mainly the former. Ryoma fell asleep before Tezuka did, falling asleep without a word. Kunimitsu fell asleep soon afterwards.

Morning was quite a shock. Tezuka's cellphone going off at six in the morning.

"Mada mada." Ryoma rolled over and tugged the pillow over his head. Tezuka grabbed his phone and answered it.

"Tezuka, don't forget to get the you know what for you know who. I know he's with you, so I can't say anymore." Tezuka was about to snap his phone in two.

"Is that why you called at this time?"

"Yah and-" Fuji was cut off by Tezuka ending the conversation and turning his phone off.

"Fuji-senpai has odd hours." Ryoma muttered half asleep.

"He does." Tezuka knew personally what kind of hours Fuji ran on, and most of the time they were always different. There was no way the other third year was normal. Tezuka was drifting back to sleep when he felt a tug on his sheets. He opened his eyes to notce Ryoma right in front of him.

"Let me join you." The third year found himself blinking a couple times before moving over, Ryoma crawling right under the covers. "Oyasumi (Night)." And Ryoma was right back out like a light. Tezuka just laid there, wondering what exactly just happened. But he couldn't understand and just went back to sleep.

A couple hours passed and Tezuka awoke. His clock read nine, and the light that was shining let him know it was actually morning, not Fuji's six in the morning morning, but real morning. It was then his eyes fixed on Ryoma who had his hand attached to his shirt. Dirty golden orbs were quickly revealed, the smaller boy suddenly shooting up, face red.

"What..."

"Don't ask." Tezuka found himself yawning. "You asked and climbed up." The elder turned on his phone, finding his inbox to be full of text messages and calls, all from a certain blue eyed third year.

And thus their morning was...interesting. Ryoma soon left the comfortable house for home, where he was welcome by his mother and just collapsed in his own bed. Sundays were too boring, and meant he later had to do homework. Boring.

--

Speaking on sundays and homework, I still have some to finish up. Yah, it's boring. And mondays are dull. I wish I was on break, wait. Today is monday, tuesday when I post this since I need to get going. Ha. Anyway, another chapter down and the real fun can begin. And for those who don't know what love hotels are, they're hotels set up all over the place where it's exactly what it seems. They designed for couples, some even containing hot tubs in them. I take pride in researching things that I put in my fics.

Next Chapter: An upset in the Echizen household? And the surprise party for Ryoma. What will it bring? And what kind of gift will Ryoma get? Wait, Ryoma's missing? Stay tuned.


	5. His Affliction

Yah, I got my cup of tea and have settled in for writing this chapter. I have no plot for all events that will take place, so just hang on tight and I'll see you at the end. Also, I feel honored that someone liked my fic so much to add it to "The Best Fics I've Read" community. Make sure you have the time to read this chapter, it's pretty long and pretty eventful. I think my brain stopped working a good couple times while writing this.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see, it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO.

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

Something startled him in the morning. Was it his mother's voice? What was going on? The sun wasn't even shining, yet he was being shaken awake.

"Kaa-san?" A slender hand rubbed his eyes before dirty golden orbs rested on the woman before him.

"Ryoma-kun, you're alright." Ryoma could only blink at his mother hugging him.

"Kaa-san?"

"I thought they killed you." Her voice was shaking. Did something happen?

"I'm fine." Ryoma tried to search around for his clock, but could only blink at seeing the time being three in the morning.

"How about tea, or something warm to drink. I could make you something to eat if you're hungry." She began to tug her son up, but he just pulled back.

"I wanna go back to sleep." The elder woman snapped, snatching Ryoma up and dragging him out of the room and into the kitchen with her.

"It's supposed to be a nice day. Is tea fine?" Echizen could only watch his mother busy herself, but his attention turned to his left wrist, which was pulsating with pain. He couldn't pay attention to his mother's words, but the sound of a cup shattering snapped him awake from his sleeping state. His mother was trying to pick up pieces of the broken cups. Lights were turning on as his cousin and father entered.

"What's going on?" Ryoma had taken to help his mother pick up the pieces.

"Kaa-san accidently dropped a cup." Nanjiro moved over.

"Are you alright?" The question was directed at his wife.

"I'm fine."

"Ryoma, why don't you go back to bed." The first year could only nod and walk off. He couldn't fall asleep, not with the pain in his wrist. The youth tugged his cd player over and tugged his headphones on, choosing to listen to music to try and fall back asleep.

It didn't feel like he had been asleep long when he felt himself being shaken awake. It was his mother again. As he tugged his headphones off, he could hear her words.

"Ryoma, you're going to be late for morning practice." He caught sight of the time and sat right up.

"Mada mada..." Ryoma got right up, but winced from his left hand.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing." Rinko left her son alone to return to cooking breakfast. Ryoma tugged on his clothing as quick as possible, stuffing his uniform into his bag. He grabbed his things and headed out, but the second he let his bag land in his left hand, he dropped everything.

"Are you alright?" His mother was there, able to catch him holding his wrist. She gently pulled him into the kitchen to get a better view, giving the boy some ice to hold on it while she found the first aid. She quickly wrapped his wrist up. Ryoma skipped breakfast, just taking his bento and leaving. He just made it in time for practice.

"Echizen-kun." Fuji waved to the young boy.

"Fuji-senpai." The first year nodded. The third year was once again clinging to his younger brother. He felt like whereever Yuuta was, there would be Fuji, attached to his arm. He bet Fuji even tried to follow his brother into the bathroom to have the door slammed in his face. Sad thing was is that this is probably a true statement, but Ryoma would never know, for he didn't feel like asking the question.

"What happened to your wrist?" Ryoma's attention went to his bandaged wrist.

"Nothing." All three were blinking at Oishi suddenly appearing, motherly instincts were taking over. Everyone had bets that if it were possible, Oishi would be the most protective mother one would see. This is thus why he was the mother in the Tenipuri episodes, but that has nothing to do with the current story.

"Echizen, you're wrist."

"It's just bruised, senpai. It's fine." Ryoma moved his hand and flexed it, holding back a wince from escaping his appearance of that everything was fine.

"Just take it easy. Tezuka would understand if you sat out." Oishi sighed.

"If he sat out?" All eyes turned to Tezuka. Ryoma felt like it was going to be one of those days. He was just waiting for Inui to come in with some new Inui juice he created in his sleep.

"Echizen has an injured wrist. It looks fine, or so it seems." Did no one believe his words? Ryoma just sighed.

"Don't push yourself. If you feel the need to stop, then do so. We can't have you causing any worsening to your injury." The great Tezuka spoke and left to yell at Kaidoh and Momo who had started to bicker on the court, Eiji and Taka getting caught in the crossfire.

"Listen to him, Echizen. He knows what's best." Ryoma could only nod.

"Hai." He tugged down on his cap as he went to drop his things into the club room and grab his racquet. It wasn't like he could only play with his left hand. He was one of the few who could used nitoryu, using both hands to play tennis.

He luckily got paired to play singles with Oishi, who took it easy on the first year. He felt a little babied, but it took relief from his wrist by playing with his right hand. But it was so different. He had been playing with his left for so long that it felt slightly unusual to use his right. But that didn't mean he didn't play a good game. As practice wrapped up, he left to change.

He laid out his clothes on the top of his bag. He found reaching to grab his shirt a little troublesome.

"Need some help?" The question came from none other than Fuji. Him and only him was around. Ryoma just looked away and gave a small nod. The third year helped remove his shirt. "Echizen-kun, if you could get any present, what would it be?" Ryoma was caught up in thinking that he didn't take notice of his senpai dressing him.

"I don't know." He came to stare at Fuji who had just finished buttoning the younger boy's shirt.

"Saa... anything for tennis? Or any games? Nothing?" Ryoma was trying to figure out what Fuji was up to by asking the questions. The elder boy has busied himself with doing Ryoma's tie. Yuuta had entered into the clubroom with Tezuka.

"Not really." Ryoma tugged his blazer on, Fuji buttoning it.

"Think about it and get back to me." Ryoma blinked.

"My birthday isn't until December, senpai." Fuji smirked.

"I know." He wandered away to hang on Yuuta while whispering to Tezuka. Ryoma tugged his uniform pants over his shorts, having no trouble with that. Had he did, he would feel completely useless. The trio seperated to change, more coming in. Ryoma tucked away his clothes into his bag.

Everyone seemed to change quickly, but talk was so warm and inviting. They were all talking about the last day being tomorrow. All through out the day, that's exactly how it was. No one paid attention. Lunch time came too quickly, possibly because he anticipated practice after school. The roof top was quite loud. His small group of friends in his class had quickly expanded to include all the regulars that he had befriended back in middle school. Even Yuuta joined them, but Ryoma believed it to be because he was getting dragged everywhere by Syuusuke.

"O-chibi-chan, how is your wrist?" Ryoma paused in eating a rice ball.

"It's better."

"Ne, ne, Oishi, why can't we be like them?" Ryoma overheard Eiji whisper to Oishi and motion towards Yuuta and Syuusuke. What could easily be mistaken for loving brothers sharing food, was more like the elder brother stealing some of the younger brother's lunch.

"Don't take my yakisoba, Aniki." Yuuta hissed.

"Aw, but I'll give you my truffle bunny." Fuji held up the milk chocolate treat.

"Wait. Did you switch our bentos this morning?"

"Maybe..." Yuuta snatched the one Fuji had, taking a bite of the roll before making a face.

"Wasabi roll.. Ugh." Fuji chuckled.

"Or maybe I just went through your's while you were being slow at getting downstairs." Yuuta inhaled his water quickly, drinking almost half in a gulp.

"So there are more differences between the Fuji brothers. Hm.." Inui was writing down in his notebook. Yuuta accepting the chocolate bunny. While he set that aside, Fuji snatched up an eggroll.

"If you're going to keep stealing my lunch, then ask Nee-san to make a bigger one for us." Yuuta was defeated in trying to keep his lunch to himself. He took a bite from his hoisin-chicken bun, actually enjoying the lunch.

"Aw, so mean. But look, I packed you little sauces." Everyone looked on as Fuji held up tiny containers that slightly resembled animals, a blue elephant and a yellow lion. Yuuta flushed red.

"Aniki." Ryoma was one of the ones who chuckled. He took a bite of a one of his creamed-corn croquettes when Eiji spoke up.

"O-chibi-chan, that looks good. Better than my gyoza. Wanna trade?" Ryoma blinked before handing the other croquette to Eiji who traded it with his gyoza. "Did your mom make this?"

"Uh, yah."

"She's a good cook." Ryoma only nodded. Lunch seemed to die as soon as the Fuji brothers finally found a truce and ate in silence. When the lunch bell rang, everyone headed back inside. Ryoma held up a couple seconds to walk down with Tezuka.

"I wanna go to the beach Wednesday. Can we go to Chiba till we decide to go to eat dinner?" Tezuka nodded.

"Sounds fine to do." Ryoma smiled.

The rest of the day flew by, even practice after school. Maybe it was because Momo caused both of them to run laps for most of the practice. They finished with a couple minutes to spare, which they were allowed to just sit and catch their breath. Tezuka spoke too everyone.

"Just because I won't be at practice tomorrow does not mean you can slack off. I'm placing Oishi in charge. Any slackers will deal with Inui, who has a new concoction for anyone who decides to not give it their all. That's it. You're dismissed."

Ryoma wasn't in any hurry to get home, but found home wasn't exactly home.

"Tadaima." Ryoma found silence for a second before his mother was rushing out to greet him.

"Okaeri." Ryoma could only blink as she began to take his things away from him. He just shuffled behind her, his things being left in the living room.

"Where's Tou-san?" Ryoma followed his mother into the kitchen.

"He went out." Ryoma could only nod, so it was the two of them. The first year started to look through the fridge and pulled out left over rice ball from last night filled with miso-glazed salmon. "You shouldn't eat, you'll ruin your dinner."

"Not really." Ryoma had barely taken a bite when the silence of the house was shattered by a loud slap. Ryoma had dropped the food on the floor, hand coming up to his burning cheek.

"Don't eat before dinner. Now out." Ryoma removed himself from the room, taking to the bathroom. He cheek was burning red, but that wasn't what bothered him. He opened his mouth only for blood to stop flooding his mouth and exit into the sink. The taste was disgusting, he would rather get hurt and not taste the blood than taste it. He tried rinsing his mouth out, but it only slowed down. The youth stuck his tongue out to see a the marks from where his bit his tongue. He could only grab a towel and hold it to his tongue. The first year then retreated to his room, attempting to do his homework.

He found himself halfway finished when his dad came home. The elder male didn't seem quite sane by his words. So this drew Ryoma out from his room. He wasn't, his father seemed alittle... drunk? The youth shook his head and retreated to his room. He completed his assignments by the time his mother called him to dinner. He left the bloody towel on a pile of dirty clothes, his tongue having stopped bleeding.

His father seemed half sober by the time dinner was done with. His mother seemed agitated by her husband's state. Ryoma could only keep an eye on them, but was slightly excited when his cousin entered, now he wasn't the only sane one. She sat down and ate, but quickly caught sight of Ryoma.

"Ryoma, what happened to your cheek? It looks swollen." Ryoma took a sip of water, having been drinking more than eating.

"Nothing." Dirty golden orbs caught the slight pink tinge to his drink, his tongue was bleeding again.

"Ryoma?" Ryoma got up and excused himself from the table, but was quickly followed by Nanako. "Hey, open your mouth, Ryoma." The younger one paused in step to open his mouth, when the female gasped. "What happened? Why haven't you been taken to the hospital?" Before he knew it, he was being dragged off. "I'm taking Ryoma out." The elder was calling back, but got no reply.

Ryoma found himself seated between his cousin and an elder male who looked pale. He blinked at hearing his name being called and just got up and followed the nurse. The doctor seemed to recall him, having been the same boy who he had seen before with the eye injury. The elder male could only chuckle. Ryoma wanted back out, but Nanko and the nurse stood at the doorway to prevent such. The bandage that got slapped on his cheek didn't bother him, it was the poking of his tongue that caused him pain.

"What caused you to bite your tongue?"

"It was an accident." The doctor could only blink before shaking his head.

"Anyway, it's too shallow to do much harm and stitch, but still deep enough to cause pain and bleed. It should stop bleeding on it's own." Ryoma nodded.

"Things don't always happen on accident. Care to tell what really happened? And your wrist, too." The doctor was now inspecting Ryoma's bandaged wrist.

"Accidents." Ryoma drew back and got to his feet.

"Alright, you're able to go. But be more careful." Ryoma nodded as he walked past his cousin and the nurses. The female paid right on spot, Ryoma wanting out.

--

Ryoma skipped the morning practice, running late for school. He dropped his tennis bag off in the club room before racing to the classroom. He ran right into the regulars outside his room, literaly crashing into Momoshiro, who managed to catch him.

"O-chibi-chan, are you alright? You missed morning practice." Eiji was clinging to Oishi.

"Yah. I just ran late." Ryoma's eyes were locked on the ground.

"Echizen, what happened to your cheek?" Oishi went mother mode in a second flat, abandoning Eiji to look at the bandage on the younger male's cheek.

"Nothing."

"Saa.. Is someone giving you trouble, Echizen-kun?"

"No one, Fuji-senpai. It was just an accident." Yuuta raised an eyebrow.

"Ryoma, a moment of your time? There's time to spare and then you can have them all worried about you again." Ryoma only nodded and followed Yuuta to another hallway. The second year opened the window to let some air in.

"What do you want?" Yuuta leaned against the window frame.

"Ryoma, is someone at home doing that to you?" There was dead silence from the other boy, so he turned around.

"No. Everything was accidents." The younger Fuji felt his eye twitch.

"There's no such thing as accidents." Yuuta passed right by Ryoma as he muttered the words. Their conversation ended shortly, Ryoma being the one to return to the group.

"What happened to Yuu-chan?" Eiji spoke up when only the first year arrived back. Ryoma had believed the other to return before him.

"I don't know." Blue orbs met dirty golden orbs as the elder brother opened his eyes fully.

"Excuse me. I'll be off, now." Fuji's smile had disappeared at Ryoma's return alone, but now appeared. He gave a wave before taking his leave.

"90 chance that he will go seek his younger brother." Inui adjusted his glasses.

"If someone hurts you, tell one of us. Understood?" All eyes were on Tezuka. The smaller teen nodded.

"Understood. Can I go into the classroom now, senpai?" There were blinks all around.

"Yah. That's a good idea. See you guys at practice." Momo jetted out of there.

"Ne, ne, Oishi, doesn't the bell ring any minute?" Eiji tugged on the other.

"Yah. Take care, Echizen." The group slowly departed, other rather they were slow to depart, but quick at leaving to their respective classrooms. Ryoma entered his, everyone talking hitting his ears. His teacher was already at the front of the room, but wasn't paying attention. Ryoma took his seat right as the bell rung. Thus the day began.

The whole day was spent with Ryoma thinking about his talk with the younger Fuji. Was something really happening that made these 'accidents' not accidents? Some had asked about what happened, but when he said accident they never questioned anymore. The lunch bell brought him out of his thoughts. Instead of following the others up to the roof, he took a detour to the bathroom. He set down his bento to take a look in the mirror. Other than the patch on his cheek, he looked normal. He stuck his tongue out to check the healing on his tongue and was satisfied that it wasn't bleeding. He then left to join his friends on the room. The whole team was there before him, and everyone was talking and having fun without him being there. The first year stood and watched them, feeling slightly aloof and wondering if it was like this when he hadn't been here.

"O-chibi!" Eiji called the younger boy over.

"Hai." Ryoma joined the group, taking an open spot between the captain and Yuuta. Lunch felt like lunch, everyone getting along (well, almost everyone since Yuuta and Fuji were having sibling fights and Kaoru and Momoshiro were having an eating contest while glaring daggers at each other). Ryoma found himself amused as he watched everyone around him. Surely it felt better to join them than watch from outside the glass.

The day's pass slowed down quite a bit, Ryoma getting bombed with pop quiz after pop quiz, which left him completely dead by the final bell of the day. Had he not had Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro there, he probably would've been late to practice. But practice seemed to be only worse for the first year. He lost a set against Yuuta, who then was crushed by his elder brother, and ended up dragging in their laps and had to drink the old Inui juice (Ryoma still blamed Momo for cutting him off and causing him to be a second too slow on that lap). Ryoma had all but recovered in spirits by the end of practice. Had Tezuka not skipped practice, would the day have become better?

"Cheer up, Echizen, it's summer now." Ryoma was gathering his things up with Oishi spoke to him. Everyone eager to leave for their houses. Many already excited for the following day to celebrate their kohais return.

"Yah." It was all Ryoma could muster up to say, taking his leave. His walk home more enjoyable than entering his house. He felt a cold chill pass him when he stepped inside. The youngest member of the househeld didn't say a word as he went to his room, letting his things fall to the floor before he rushed out. He started looking everywhere, but couldn't find him. The house seemed empty as he searched, but he soon found it occupied. His father was out back, reading. "Have you seen Karupin?" The elder male looked down from his spot at his son.

"No." Ryoma dropped the conversation and went back inside. His mother was busy in the kitchen.

"Have you seen Karupin?"

"No." Ryoma sighed. Did Karupin escape again? The youth left and went to do a search of his room. He relaxed at finding the cat sleeping in his closet. Ryoma settled down at his desk to do his assignments, finding them rather easy. It would be best to do his summer assignments now rather than while at camp.

Time passed by quickly and Ryoma was rushing out of his room and to the dinner table. Nanako had just finished setting it when Ryoma took a seat, his father and mother coming to join them.

"This is our last meal with you, Nanako-chan." The brown eyed female just smiled softly.

"I'll return to visit. I'm not that far away either." Rinko smiled. Dinner continued like it was any other, except with conversation that forced Ryoma to help Rinko move the last of her stuff out.

--

Ryoma called Tezuka to cancel their plans, saying he had to help his cousin finish moving. It was true. The third year understood, but reminded him about dinner. The first year promised not to forget.

Ryoma entered his house early afternoon, his arms tired from all the boxes. His mother met him at the door.

"Is she all settled in?" Ryoma gave a nod.

"Yes." Ryoma passed his mother into the kitchen to get a can of ponta, but found none. "Are we out of ponta?"

"You should drink healthier things than ponta. You're still growing."

"But it's juice. It's not like it's soda." Ryoma mumbled but felt the sting that came with the slap.

"Don't talk back to me. Do you understand?" Ryoma was quite stunned, dirty golden orbs coming to look up at the one who held the most authority in the house. Her gaze seemed to threaten his being, so he lowered his gaze and walked past her.

"Yes." He wandered into his room and collapsed on his bed. His mind just fluttered with things. The main thought? Why has his mother hit him so often? As he burried his face in his pillow, contemplating this question, his phone rang. His voice was shakey as he answered it. "Hello?"

"Echizen-kun, I felt like telling you that I know what you're up to with Tezuka tonight, and that you better not forget."

"Fuji-senpai..." There was a chuckle on the other end.

"Now don't forget." Ryoma listened to the click and all that followed. He waited a second before hitting the redial button. Instead of getting Fuji once more, a female voice answered.

"Hello? Fuji residence." Ryoma guessed his senpai used his home phone.

"Is Yuuta there?" There was silence for a second.

"May I ask who's calling?" Ryoma thought about this for a second.

"A friend from school." He could hear the female call Yuuta to the phone, and hear Yuuta's voice.

"Thanks, Nee-san. Hello?" Ryoma almost forgot to speak at the other questioning if he was there.

"Yuuta-senpai." This time silence came from the other side.

"Ryoma, why're you calling me?" Ryoma wondered this as well.

"Will you meet me at the street courts in ten minutes?"

"Uh sure. Why?"

"Just meet me there, senpai. You and only you." Ryoma hung up. He was clutching his phone tightly, had he really just done what he thought he did? Anyway, he had to get going. It'd take that time to get to the courts. Grabbing his cap, Ryoma headed to the door. As he was slipping on his shoes, he heard his mother's voice.

"Where are you going?" Ryoma didn't turn back.

"To meet up with a friend." Ryoma opened the door. "I'll be back later." He shut the door behind him before he could even hear his mother's reply.

The courts weren't empty, but they weren't jammed pack with players like they were towards nighttime. Ryoma just sat on the bench, watching Kamio and Shinji of Fudomine playing a set. His mind was thinking about earlier, trying to figure it out. When Yuuta arrived, he stole the boy's attention.

"Echizen." Yuuta's firm voice earned Ryoma's stare.

"You said earlier, that things happen for a reason. What do you mean?" Yuuta raised an eyebrow before taking a seat next to the younger boy.

"Just as it sounds. Things happen exactly to bring you closer to others, and away from those who're dangerous." Ryoma held his gaze on the ground.

"And if they're dangerous?"

"What does this have to do with anything? Is someone hurting you?" Yuuta's full attention was on Ryoma.

"I don't understand...why she hits me. I don't understand it." Ryoma felt a pat on his head, causing his eyes to look up.

"It's not your fault. If you need assurance call Tezuka-bouchou." Ryoma could only blink.

"Tezuka... that's right, we're going out later." Yuuta actually found a small smirk form on his lips.

"You forgot after being reminded by Aniki. I'll have to tell him that he really is bad at helping people remember." Ryoma got to his feet, as did Yuuta.

"Possibly. Fuji-senpai is probably not even from this world, so it's expected." Ryoma started to walk off.

"Hey, Ryoma. Who is it that hit you?"

"My mother." Yuuta didn't say anything else, just let the first year go down the steps. He would've followed, but a familiar voice caught his attention. The sight of Mizuki just flashed red lights in his head.

Ryoma entered the house, his mother greeting him. Nothing seemed wrong, so he felt that everything was safe. But why was he now walking on egg shells? It wasn't like his mother was abusive, she was just in bad moods and couldn't be blamed. This is what Ryoma believed to be true. Even as he changed, he found himself thinking of every possible answer. The clock struck five and Ryoma was walking back out to the front door, but was forced to stop by his mother in his way.

"Ryoma, why do you keep going in and out?"

"I'm meeting with Tezuka in a bit, we're going to go visit a friend."

"That's not the truth. You don't want to be home anymore." Ryoma's eyes widened.

"That's not true." He felt himself backing up as his mother came forward. He quickly felt his mother grasp him in a hug, that's what it felt like, a hug. It quickly became suffocating. "Kaa-san..."

"It'll be alright." Ryoma tried to push her away, but found his strength draining. After a minute of struggle, his vision becoming black, Ryoma managed to find the strength to push his mother away. But his mind was wondering, where was his dad? Why wasn't he here to help him? "Ryoma." His mother looked hurt.

"I need to go." He headed back to the door. This was too much, he had to get out while he could. And so he escaped out the door. He knew he was late, his lungs barely able to take in oxygen without hurting. He couldn't exactly find the strength to regan the composure he lost, his body being so tired. His walk was a slow pace. He was meeting Tezuka at Kawamura Sushi.

The group at the shop were slightly worried. The time was reaching past six and no sign of their Echizen, who was half an hour late. Also, there was also no sign of Yuuta, who was also missing.

"Maybe they're together and forgot the time." The shop door opened and the group got ready to surprise the first year when they saw Yuuta enter.

"Yuu-chan." Eiji waved over. The second year just seemed pale as he collapsed. The group moving to him.

"Aniki..." Yuuta stirred and found the comforting smile of his brother.

"What happened, Yuuta?" Yuuta's eyes went wide.

"Mizuki-senpai." Fuji twitched.

"Did Mizaki touch you?" Yuuta was quiet as he looked around him.

"What time is it?" Oishi pulled up his sleeve.

"A little after six."

"Did she get him?" Yuuta blinked, recalling Ryoma's words from earlier, before Mizuki.

"Nya? What was that?" Eiji questioned Yuuta's words, but just got a head shake.

"Nothing." Yuuta sat up on his own. Just then, the shop door opened. All eyes moved to it as their young pillar stepped in.

"Welcome home, Ryoma." Ryoma's eyes went wide at everyone being there, and the whole place being decorated, and all the noise.

"Senpais..." Eiji and Taka moved over, Eiji pulling Ryoma in as Taka shut the door. Ryoma ended up seated at a table with the Fuji brothers and Tezuka. Taka was bringing out platter after platter of sushi, Ryoma finding himself drawn in by the promise of food.

"Why were you late? Did you forget?" Fuji was eating a wasabi roll.

"Yah, sorry." Ryoma popped a roll in his mouth, making sure not to get a wasabi one.

Ryoma soon found all the platters taken away as soon as they were cleared, but his table was an exception. It was quickly replaced by cake, the words "Welcome back Ryoma" written out with everyone's name decorating it. The first year smiled.

"Arigato, senpais. I'm glad to be home." They cut into the cake and everyone enjoyed themselves. Ryoma got passed some wrapped boxes, which he accepted. He was quick at opening them and quite speechless at each gift. A new racquet, new can of balls, a new cap, and, the thing that got him the most, a Seigaku jacket. It wasn't the regular jacket he wore back in middle school. In fact, it wasn't even the regular jacket.

"It's similar to our regular jackets, but we decided that we want everyone to feel important, so we agreed on everyone getting warm ups. We just decided to make your's special and give it to you now. Everyone else has their's already." Ryoma bowed his head.

"Thank you so much." Everyone had noticed their younger friend had grown up, some even missing the old arrogant Echizen. The party only continued for an hour more at most, everyone just enjoying themselves. Fuji, Yuuta, Ryoma and Tezuka were the last ones to leave, walking together for a bit. Fuji had struck up a conversation. Yuuta pulled Ryoma back a bit.

"Were you late because of her?" Yuuta's voice was soft. Ryoma could only nod. "I see."

"It's fine though." Yuuta just pat Ryoma on the head.

"Things happen for a reason, but nightmares always repeat."

"Yuuta, you trying to cheat on me with Echizen?" Fuji called back, Yuuta just rolled his eyes.

"Get over yourself, Aniki." The group split up and Ryoma return to his house. No one greeted him at his entrance, so he just went right to his room. He was on vacation, so he didn't need to be up at any set time. And in less than a week, he would be heading to tennis camp with all his friends. There was something to look forward to, something to draw his mind away from any nightmares that would try to break him.

--

Another chapter down. And this one was so hard to figure out. And yes, Mizuki had to make a return, and he will again. As Yuuta said, "Nightmares alway repeat." Hehe, quoting my own fic. Anyway, R&R.

Next Chapter: The first day of tennis camp and we find out what happened between Yuuta and Mizuki after Ryoma left. And Ryoma encounters problems with the slowly forming relationship with his captain and he goes by the name of Atobe Keigo. Stay tuned.


	6. His Appearance

I'm sitting emoing because I'm beginning this rather than watching the newest uploaded ep of Gundam 00. Ep 23... I need to stop whining. I'm a gundam nerd to the max, well not that bad, but I've watched seven gundam series. But still...new ep that I can't watch right now. By the time this is uploaded though, but also before I even finish this, I'll have watching the episode and be happy. And the tennis season has started, so updates won't be as quick as they used to be (er... I kinda slowed down and kept having writer's block). x.x And Ep 23 of Gundam 00 just killed my mood.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see, it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO. I also don't own Pocari Sweat or Momo no Ten-nen sui.

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

Ryoma was off, his mother wishing him farewell. Nothing had happened since the last accident between them. He was often out with Tezuka, or meeting up with Yuuta. But there was one thing that bothered him, and it was forever Yuuta's words of that nightmares would always come back to haunt him. He wanted to ask the elder boy what he meant, but he never brought it up. He could always ask at tennis camp, for today was the day he would be leaving with the others to go to the home away from home.

The team was waiting at the bus stop when he arrived. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, all happy to be on break. Well, almost everyone was talking. Kaoru was off in his own world and Yuuta just seemed bored. Ryoma gained the attention of Tezuka, who talked to Ryoma on the casual scale, main conversation about Ryoma's time in America. When the bus arrived, all went board. Fuji sat directly across from Tezuka, dragging Yuuta to sit with him. Ryoma took the window seat with Tezuka, Yuuta getting the window seat on his side. Once on, it was a very long ride to the camp.

And of that said camp? It was bigger than their tiny camping trip before back in middle school, where the former Seigaku captain showed up. No, this was even more up to date. Already in sight were tennis courts upon tennis courts, and a pool (Only pointed out by Momo ranting about it over and over). There were several buildings, they could almost be considered small houses because it's what they were exactly similar to. They were different colors, this causing the boys to speak out.

"Calm down, calm down. Everyone will be stationed in different housings. Two members in a house with others. In the blue house is Fuji Yuuta and Echizen Ryoma. Red house is Momoshiro Takeshi and Kawamura Takashi. Green House is Oishi Syuichiro and Eiji Kikumaru. White house is myself and Fuji Syuusuke. And in the yellow house is Sadaharu Inui and Kaoru Kaidoh. Any problems, keep them to yourself. Head out." Tezuka read off the list he had. Fuji pouted, he wouldn't be able to bond with his little brother. So the elder brother hugged the younger one.

"Now you be good, Yuuta, and don't stay up too late, and don't drive your housemates crazy. Oh, and make sure to brush your teeth. And no scary movies." Yuuta, by this point, was pushing Fuji away. The other was not shutting up anytime soon and followed the former St. Rudolph boy off the bus. Ryoma followed behind. There were many people already there, some they could recall, while others they didn't. Yuuta and Ryoma entered their little house, and were greeted by two cheerful people. One was the familiar site of Sengoku, who was currently sucking on a popsicle. The other was Dan, who seemed to be losing at a game of war against the other.

"Lucky. It's the little Fuji and the long lost Echizen." Sengoku greeted them. Dan gave a wave.

"Hey, welcome. We have other roommates. They're Kamio and Shinji from Fudomine, desu. Mizuki and Yanagizawa from St. Rudolph, desu. Saeki and Atsushi from Rokkaku, desu. And Jiroh and Atobe from Hyotei, desu." Both Yuuta and Ryoma could do without Dan's 'desu' at the end of everything. Yuuta went a shade of white at Mizuki's name, but seemed to relax hearing he could hang out with Saeki and Atsushi.

"Your names are on your doors." Sengoku was looking at his cards before both him and Dan flipped, Dan sighing as he lost his last card. "Lucky." This was all Yuuta and Ryoma needed to hear before leaving for their rooms. Ryoma was rooming with Dan, finding it better than being with Mizuki, Yanagizawa, or Atobe. He would rather be staying in a room with Inui, or drinking any of the third year's concoctions, than rooming with any of them. Across the hallway was Yuuta's room, which he was sharing with Saeki. The younger Fuji was quite glad, he would've been glad with either Atsushi or Saeki, finding it better than any other. As Yuuta entered the room, he couldn't help but blink.

"Yuuta, you've grown so much." The elder boy tugged Yuuta into a hug, forgetting his half dressed state.

"Where's your shirt?" Yuuta managed to escape the other to drop his things on the empty bed.

"Hm. Somewhere." Yuuta could only watch as Saeki went in search of his already missing shirt.

"Is that it?" Yuuta had been looking around the room, and just noticed a shirt on the door handle.

"Yah, that's it." Kojiro tugged on the shirt. "Put your stuff away and get settled. We have this whole day to explore. Where is your brother staying?" Yuuta had to think about this.

"Um, I believe he's in the White house." Yuuta then paused, that just sounded too funny. He hadn't been too good with English, or when they were doing a chapter on America, but he literaly thought of America's White House at first thought. He was suddenly picturing his elder brother in the white house, that thought alone was scary and leading the foreign country to ruins.

"Thanks. I'll catch up with you later." Saeki was right out the door, leaving Yuuta alone. The second year began to unpack, finding empty space in the closet and in a dresser (Where Saeki's things took up the upper two drawers, so Yuuta took the bottom two). He dumped his empty bag in the closet with Saeki's, his tennis bag resting in the closet as well, an idea he got from the third year's bag being in there. When finished, Yuuta strolled over to his bed and collapsed onto it. It was actually softer than he had expected it to be, even the pillow was soft. The youth closed his eyes, just enjoying the quietness, but it wouldn't last that long. There was a sudden knock at his door, before someone entered and the door shut. Grey hues focused on the other.

"It's been a while, Yuuta. How've you been?" The other would take a seat on Saeki's bed.

"I've been alright. Atsushi-senpai, I'm surprised you aren't rooming with your brother." Yuuta sat up.

"I'm surprised you aren't rooming with yours." Yuuta frowned.

"Too much of him would make anyone's brain explode." This comment caused Atsushi to chuckle.

"Ryou is in the red house with David." Yuuta nodded.

"Who're you rooming with?" Yuuta was quite curious.

"I'll give you a guess, da ne." Atushi smirked.

"Yanagizawa-senpai." Atsushi nodded.

"It's like old times. Two St. Rudolph members, and two ex-St. Rudolph members. Brings back memories." Yuuta could only nod once more. "But on a serious note... You've seen the two who're here from St. Rudolph, right?"

"Yah, Yanagizawa-senpai and Mizuki-senpai." Atsushi nodded.

"How do you feel about it?" Yuuta got up and stretched.

"I'm fine. I don't care anymore." Yuuta lied right through his teeth, even getting the other to believe it. Wasn't it in the Fuji blood that made it easy to deceive? Even when it came to deceiving themselves.

"Alright. But if you need anything, ask." Atsushi was up and heading to the door when it opened. Ryoma could only blink at the two before him.

"Sorry." He pulled down his cap and was about to close the door when Atsushi objecting to it.

"No, no, I'm leaving. Don't let me bother you." Atsushi gave a nod to Yuuta before taking his leave.

"Momo-senpai came and said that a bunch of them were going to explore and want to know if we want to join them." Yuuta thought about it.

"Sure." He didn't have anything better to do. On their leaving, they found Sengoku and Dan playing go fish. Sengoku seemed to have a bigger pile, with two cards left in his hand, while Dan had a smaller pile, and more cards in his hand. The pile in between them was small as well. The two Seigaku players paused to watch as Sengoku won their game.

"Lucky." The orange haired smirked as Dan huffed and challenged Sengoku to another game of go fish. Ryoma and Yuuta exited the house, finding their team outside before them, along with Saeki.

Much more was expected of the place, but they did find themselves quite surprised. Jiroh was found passed out underneath a large tree, no one else in sight. Gakuto had somehow found a trampoline (of course) and had challenged Eiji to a jumping contest, so the group lost two members (Oishi wouldn't leave Eiji alone, also fearing the dangers that could arise). Slowly, but surely, everyone was departing. Soon their group was left with Saeki, Ryoma, Yuuta, Fuji, and Tezuka.

"Well if it isn't Fuji Syuusuke." That voice caused Yuuta to cringe and Fuji to frown.

"Saa... Misoka (xD I'm running out of names to call Mizuki that're a little bit close to his name)." Mizuki twitched.

"You'd think after all this time you'd get my name right. Tsk, tsk. And I see Echizen Ryoma is back." The St. Rudolph boy observed.

"Saeki-san, why don't you take Yuuta and Ryoma off to get drinks. I'll pay you back later." Saeki felt something weird in Fuji's voice, so he just tugged the two younger boys off.

"Afraid I'm going to do something to Yuuta?" Mizuki would raise an eyebrow.

"Not at all. I just don't wish any harm to come to Yuuta." Fuji meant more in the psychological state or emotional state than physical. He also wondered why Mizuki would go straight for Yuuta instead of Ryoma. It was something he would ponder for some time.

Yuuta was silent as they walked off, going away willingly. Saeki and Ryoma held their attention on the second year.

"Hey, what was that back there?" Yuuta found it hard to believe that Kojiro had never heard of Fuji's views on Mizuki and so forth.

"Aniki and Mizuki-senpai don't get along, as you can see." Saeki could only nod, looking back at the fading images. He wasn't really sure exactly where they were going, but luckily they stumbled upon a vending machine.

"Ponta, ponta, ponta..." Ryoma recited looking over the choices to drink, happily finding his choice amongst them. But he got a bad tinge remembering his mother's words, banning him from drinking the juice. He then disregarded it and figured she'd never know.

"Ponta for Ryoma. Yuuta, what would you like?" Grey orbs scanned over the drinks.

"Pocari Sweat." His sweet tooth (Possibly teeth would be more acurate since he liked sweet things) wanted something somewhat sweet. Saeki nodded and baught the two drinks, getting himself a momo no ten-nen sui (a peaceh water drink).

"Why don't you two wander around, I have to go find my teammates." Saeki suddenly remembered that he forgot to tell them about everything that will be happening at the camp.

Ryoma and Yuuta wandered about in silence. It was an awkward silence, where neither knew what to say. They found themselves outside their house, walking in. Sengoku and Dan were nolonger playing card games, they had changed to board games.

"Lucky." The words let them know that Sengoku had one again. Dan grabbing the next game and setting it up. The two Seigaku boys could only wonder how long they've been playing game after game, and also why Dan didn't just give up. Yuuta went into his room, tugging out his cd player and just listening to music. Ryoma returned to his room, but just found himself bored, even with music. Ryoma got up and left his room.

There was a knock at the door, which Yuuta barely heard over his music. The door opened slowly, not even waiting for him to say a word. Grey orbs blinked at his visitor, his hand shutting off his cd player right away.

"Nice little room, Yuuta." The other smiled, Yuuta frowned.

"What do you want, Mizuki-san?" To Mizuki's face, Yuuta wouldn't call him -senpai, but to others he wouldn't call Mizuki -san. The other twirled some strands of hair around his finger, watching the second year.

"Don't you miss St. Rudolph, Yuuta? It'd fit you to return."

"I'm happy at Seishun Gakuen. Please leave." Mizuki moved over.

"If you remain there, you'll never get to play your brother in a competetive way."

"I'm fine with that. I've told you that before. Now please go away." Mizuki let his hand dangle on Yuuta's head, the other boy flintching.

"As you wish." And with that, Mizuki was gone. When the door opened, Yuuta was about to yell when he noticed Ryoma.

"What was he doing here?" Ryoma tilted his head to the side.

"Nothing." Yuuta drew his knees to his chest as Ryoma sat down on the second year's bed.

"If we do a sharing session, maybe we wouldn't be...a little awkward at being friends." Ryoma admitted to it being awkward trying to befriend someone who he had viewed as someone he defeated and was an opponent (Not that him being on Seigaku didn't make him an opponent, it did if he wanted to be a regular in high school). Grey orbs met rusted golden orbs.

"Fine." Yuuta felt the same way the other boy did.

"If you didn't hear from Fuji-senpai, I'm originally from America. After my first year in middle school, I returned back to America to return back this year." There seemed to be silence as Ryoma took the spot to speak first. "My mom has done some things that she really hasn't done before. She slapped me, yelled at me, doesn't want me to drink ponta, and tried to kill me. But she doesn't mean it." Yuuta found himself patting Ryoma on the head.

"You seem to travel alot, she'll get better. Tennis camp should give her enough time." Ryoma nodded.

"What about you, Yuuta-senpai." Yuuta blinked before nodding.

"Aniki was my best friend growing up, but he did something that slightly angered myself. I also hated being in his shadow, being called Fuji's little brother, because I'm Yuuta not Fuji's otouto (Little brother). So I went to St. Rudolph. I suppose everything from then till our match is known to you. But I... I dated Mizuki for a short time, atleast until he broke my arm in a rage. I can't even recall what had been happening. He would always appear, but Atsushi-senpai would always be right there. I'm always being protected from Mizuki-senpai." Ryoma looked at the other.

"And if you two were left on your own?" Yuuta's face drained of color. "Senpai?"

"After you left the street courts to go home before the party, that's what happened. He appeared, and there wasn't that protection. He wants me to go back to St. Rudolph Gakuen... back to him." Ryoma blinked.

"And?"

"I'm not going to." Ryoma nodded. So that's what the other had meant by nightmares returning.

"So he'll keep returning until you transfer. But isn't he a third year?" Yuuta nodded.

"Yah, so I only have to deal with it for a little while longer." Ryoma once again nodded.

"If you need anything, then ask." Ryoma tugged his cap down as he headed towards the door.

"Nah, just get together with Tezuka quicker, Aniki is getting impatient." Ryoma could see such a thing happening in his mind, the Fuji getting impatient. He gave a nod before exiting. Yuuta's phone then went right off. "Yuuta, come over tonight, Syuusuke." Yuuta twitched, did he really want to go spend time over in the other house? Yuuta let his head hit his pillow as he groaned, these were the tough choices he had to make.

Ryoma had wandered out and caught sight of Sengoku, once again, beat Dan in a game of battleship. Ryoma just shook his head before exiting the building. The afternoon air was nice to him. It was perfect for thinking, especially taking in the aquired info about Yuuta.

"If it isn't the Seishun's lost prince." Atobe smirked, sparkles littering the air around him. Ryoma had to squint his eyes.

"Ah, that guy who was Bouchou's rival." Atobe lost his sparkles with his next sentence.

"It's Keigo Atobe!"

"Mada mada." He muttered. "Not my concern." Atobe walked over and tugged the younger boy close, forcing him into a walk.

"Now, now, why don't we take a nice little walk and talk. I want you to set me up with a match with Tezuka." Ryoma followed silently until he heard the other's words.

"And why should I?" Atobe chuckled.

"Well, with us being housemates, I could find some nice blackmail, even though I don't sink that low."

"Fine." Ryoma tugged his cap back down. "Will you let go of me now?" Atobe smirked, tugging the cap off the younger boy's head and planting a kiss on his forehead.

"You're actually tolerable when you agree." Was that supposed to be a compliment? Especially after the Hyotei member kissed him on the forehead.

"Atobe. Echizen." Both boys looked at Tezuka.

"Ah, perfect timing, Tezuka." Ryoma grabbed his hat back and tugged it back on, pulling it down.

"Hm?"

"I challenge you to a match tomorrow."

"Fine." Tezuka grabbed Ryoma's hand and pulled him off, the first year watching the third year as they walked at a fast pace away from Atobe.

"Bouchou?" Ryoma asked after they had gone quite a ways away.

"What was that?" Tezuka didn't look to the other.

"Atobe wanted me to set up a match between you." Ryoma still focused mainly on tennis, disregarding anything else.

"I see." Ryoma tilted his head to the side.

"Are you jealous... Kunimitsu?" Ryoma smirked as Tezuka turned around.

"Of course not." He had felt a tinge of jealousy, some intent to kill Atobe, and some questioning what little he had with the younger boy. Ryoma walked closer to the boy.

"Don't count my faults. And don't believe everything, Bouchou. Just believe in what I tell you, that it's true." Ryoma would then lean up to kiss the other on the cheek, still too short to match the other's height. The first year would give a smile. "But I was off to buy ponta, so I'll catch you up later." With that, Ryoma would take off running, leaving a slightly surprised Tezuka behind.

Two little stories in one, pillar pair as the main pairing and side Fujicest. Finally took me long enough to update. And I also worked on other fics to get rid of my brain issues (My brain turned to mush quite a couple times today, especially when doing my spanish project. I have horrible english grammer, and even worse spanish grammer...aside from me not even knowing what I'm saying in spanish.) Anyway, I may or may not post my Prince fic (One of my other stories I've been doing), I haven't decided right now, but it's just another Fujicest fic (with yaoi AND non-yaoi pairings, which is surprising coming from me). Anyway, R&R (Yes, I know this chapter was most likely pretty crappy, but the next is just going to be slight fluff and all pillar pair centered, I promise..or rather.. I hope it turns out that way).

Next Chapter: First official day of training and Ryoma gets paired up with Tezuka as a partner. The day entails much, ending with the most unexpected outcome. And why is Ryoma caught shedding a tear after the sun sets? Did Tezuka make him cry or is there more to it? Find out next chapter.


	7. His Love

x.x Oh man, it's been so long since I've been on my computer. Two and a half hour practices are killer. Was up in Boston the other day for school. And we had a match yesterday and so I was out until late. And then our match today was postponed due to rain and practiced cancelled. So I'm hoping to post this asap (Today being Friday). Anyway, enjoy. R&R.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see; it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO. I also don't own the whole cross-sectional training and the foam ball training. Seriously, I hate cross-sectional training with footballs (a kid on my team had their finger broken by catch the ball wrong). And it really does help with serving, seriously. And the whole foam ball is sooo annoying, so hard to hit over the net that you have to play using 1/4 the court; the back line is the service line. And trust me, it takes all your strength to return it past a drop shot (which I could do easily, but the returning to the service line area is harder).

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

The morning was a little unpleasant for Yuuta, who woke up to Saeki's snoring. For Ryoma, it was a little better. Dan was completely out. The first year was first up anyway, and first out of the house. He was quite surprised at finding Kaidoh running around the camp, but passed on running with the second year. He took up a jog to the vending machine, happily getting a ponta. He had to start his day with the juice.

"What're you doing up so early? The sun just rose." Golden orbs looked up at the one who spoke.

"Eh? Oh, Bouchou." Ryoma sipped on his drink. The elder looked like he had been running. Was he out of the loop? Impossible, he hadn't heard Yuuta get up, so not everyone ran in the morning.

"Yes, me." Ryoma nodded, taking a walk with the elder male.

"Drink. When does the day actually begin?" Ryoma was curious about the day.

"You get a partner and create your own schedule for the days. Only certain things are every Friday will be singles and doubles matches." Ryoma smirked.

"Then I claim you as my partner, senpai." Tezuka ruffled the younger boy.

"Fine. But we have a scheduled day, then." Ryoma looked up while taking a sip from his drink.

"Hm?"

"Swimming, running, a match, then lunch, cross-sectional training, volleyball match vs. the golden pair, another match, and then an evening run." Ryoma stopped drinking.

"So much. But what's cross-sectional training?"

"Where you apply another sport to tennis. They have different sports to do, but I think throwing a football is best, since it's like serving (Ryoma: This actually applies to tennis? Who ever thought of it was weird.) and the motions." Ryoma sweat dropped.

"Ah. And running." Ryoma hadn't played volleyball since his first year at the middle school. He was also pretty bad at it (Reference to the manga's volleyball tournament with Rokkaku Chu).

"Not too much. I'll admit... I'm not a real big fan of running. I just like commanding it." Ryoma paused in step before actually laughing.

"Ha. I knew it. The power of Captain went to your head." Tezuka would cast a small smile to the younger boy. "Ah, so much to learn about Kunimitsu." This comment was said more to himself than anyone else.

"True." Ryoma looked back up.

"So swimming first? What time?" Tezuka thought about it, as if trying to remember exactly how he had plotted out the day.

"Last time I checked it was a little after second, so how about eight?" Ryoma nodded.

"Alright, sounds good." He gave a small yawn.

"Until then, you're able to get breakfast." That caught Ryoma's attention.

"Like what?" Where exactly were they walking to? They had been walking for some time.

"A lot of things." Ryoma then would start to tug the elder male off.

"Then let's go. I'm not going alone." It was more like Ryoma was actually interested in learning more about Tezuka, and he refused to learn it by way of Inui, mostly out of fear of drinking Inui juice.

"Fine." Tezuka agreed and both boys walked off. The entire cafe was empty, except for a small table farthest from them. The Kisarazu twins were eating breakfast with the Fuji brothers. Ryoma could've sworn that when he left earlier, Yuuta was asleep. As the two moved closer, Ryoma was completely sure that Yuuta was still half asleep, since he actually agreed to eat dinner with his brother.

"Fuji-senpai, you should be nicer to people who want to sleep." Ryoma walked by the table and chucked his can into the recycle bin.

"Hm. It's a Ryoma and Tezuka. Join us, won't you?" Tezuka just gave a nod. Ryoma was actually excited to get breakfast. The place was actually better than he would've expected. Pancakes, toast, eggs, French toast, and so much more.

"Don't let your eyes get bigger than your stomach, or you'll make yourself sick." Tezuka's words shot down Ryoma's idea, settling on a mound of pancakes and a bottle of milk. What amused the first year was Tezuka getting French toast and a cup of tea.

By the time they returned to the table, Yuuta was somewhat awake, at least awake enough to shoot comments back at Fuji.

"Aniki, stop saying I sleep with a stuffed animal." Ryoma was suddenly amused.

"Sit, sit." Fuji ushered the first year and fellow third year to sit with them. "Please excuse, Yuuta, he's a little cranky this morning (Yuuta: Because you keep making things up about me!). But that's beside the point. I suppose you two will be paired together."

"Yah." Ryoma sipped on his milk.

"Then this evening, the two of you versus me and Yuuta in doubles. But they won't let us use normal tennis balls, so we'll meet you on the short courts. We'll get the foam ball." Ryoma paused mid-sip.

"Foam ball?" Tezuka nodded.

"Yes. There was something about tennis balls give you too much reliance on not needing to do simple returns, so we'll be using foam balls everyday except weekends and in this big tournament in the final week." Ryoma could only nod. This would be an interesting day, but one thing lingered on his mind. Could you really hit foam balls with a racquet?

The dining hall quickly filled up as other teams entered and got breakfast. And Ryoma always felt like someone was watching him, but couldn't exactly figure out who. But he didn't have to think about it to long, for him and Tezuka quickly removed themselves from the hall after they both finished. They quickly parted for their respective houses to change for their morning swim.

Ryoma saw his bed and just collapsed onto it. It felt so nice. And the day was so hot, the morning swim would only keep him cool for so long. The day would just get worse as it went on. Keeping this in mind, Ryoma moved and quickly changed. Letting his towel drape over his shoulder, he met Tezuka outside his house, and the two left for the pool. It was actually quite deserted for the morning, which Ryoma was a little thankful.

Spending time together would be nice, or so Ryoma thought, but was quite disappointed in how swimming now just became a sport before his eyes. And of all the things he had to do, it was laps. Black strands stuck to his face at the end of it all, golden orbs gazing at the captain.

"What kind of training is swimming?" Tezuka seemed to think about it.

"Builds muscle." Ryoma huffed, splashing his senpai.

"Least got to see Kunimitsu out of uniform or the warm up." Ryoma muttered, which was even more inaudible due to the water interfering and his words making bubbles in the water. Tezuka ruffled the younger boy on the head before pulling himself out to sit on the ledge. "What, all done?" Ryoma let his mouth dangle away from the water.

"Whenever you feel like running, we will." Ryoma blinked. Did he get to choose something?

"And if I said I didn't want to run?" Ryoma let himself float up so he was on his back, golden orbs resting on the third year.

"Longer tennis practice with the foam ball." Ryoma considered this. He didn't even know if he could hit a foam ball.

"Let's go take a run, KunKun." Ryoma felt himself pushed under before finding the ability to resurface. The first year coughed up water before seeing the elder boy with his towel.

"For that we'll run an extra five miles." Ryoma slipped back in the water. Was it too late to object to running?

The five mile thing was a little joke, Ryoma found out after they completed a mile. He also found out that the camp had woods to it, and so the two had taken to jog on a path throughout the woods.

"How far have we run?" Ryoma felt like he had just run twenty laps around the courts.

"I'm no Inui, but probably three miles at least." Tezuka sounded a little out of breath.

"I demand a break." Ryoma ordered and almost ran into the other male, who stopped to the other's words.

"Fine, but not too long." Ryoma sighed happily, plopped down on spot. His body was quite warm, almost hot from the day. He soon found himself resting against the other, who had sat down beside him. "Bouchou... How much more do we have to run?"

"I'm more curious as to what's in the woods now." Ryoma looked up.

"I propose a nature hike. We can run back after finding something interesting." Tezuka agreed and Ryoma found within him the ability to be stubborn and demand things. He kind of liked Tezuka agreeing to his ideas, it was so different than any other time. Was it just because they were alone?

Ryoma didn't have long to ponder this before they were on the move again, but this time it was at a walk. The woods were pretty beautiful, so full of life. It wasn't overpowering and nothing that would change their minds on the area. The path seemed to take a turn, but Ryoma spotted a small path that seemed a little worn out and not as traveled, so the two took it. They did find some trouble, it wasn't clear like the normal path and they seemed to walk forever on it, but the end was worth it. Golden orbs tried to take in the whole scene before him. A waterfall into a lake, and flowers.

"Wow." Both said, Ryoma rushing over to the water. It was so cool to his touch and he watched the fish. "There's fish in the water." He would look to see that the lake became a stream a little bit down. He would then look up to see Tezuka, who was watching the water. The first year tugged the other to sit, who did.

"It's nice here. Peaceful and away from the annoying opponents." Ryoma leaned against Tezuka.

"Fuji-senpai is included." This earned a chuckle from Tezuka. Ryoma looked up at the other. "Tezuka?" The elder looked at him. Ryoma leaned up and kissed the elder male. It was a quick kiss, for Ryoma quickly got to his feet. "I'll race you back to the courts, Senpai." And with that, Ryoma was gone. Tezuka was left to blink for a minute before following the younger boy.

Upon return, they could tell the drastic change between first thing in the morning and almost afternoon. Ryoma reached the courts before Tezuka, but he knew neither had their racquets. Who would bring their racquet on a run? Tezuka soon joined him, so he smiled simply.

"Time to get our racquets and play that match." The first year was looking forward to it. Both boys walked off, still out of breath from the couple miles run back. Ryoma blinked as he almost ran into Yuuta as he walked into the house. The second year had been exiting his bedroom, and seemed a little shocked to see Ryoma.

"Glad you're not Aniki." The second year sighed.

"I take it Fuji-senpai is running you up the wall?" Yuuta nodded.

"Literally." At that, the elder one's phone would go off. The younger Fuji just twitched. "What do you want, Aniki?!"

"How mean, Yuuta. I just called to say to meet me at the dining hall for lunch in five minutes." Yuuta just huffed and shut the phone.

"Are you going to meet him?" Ryoma tilted his head to the side.

"Of course." Yuuta replied back matter-of-factly. But the second part he muttered. "Like I have a choice. He'll complain about it for the next week." And with that, Yuuta was out the door. Ryoma was quite glad he didn't have anyone like that with him. He didn't think he could survive like Yuuta did. But it wasn't his problem. Right now he just had to focus on the match with Tezuka, which he totally got side tracked from. Ryoma grabbed his tennis back and took off for the courts once more.

Upon arrival, Ryoma noticed that the courts seemed...short. Were they the short courts that Fuji had talked about earlier?

"Sorry to take long." Tezuka shook his head.

"It's fine." Both boys took the court and found a box at the end, filled with the infamous foam balls. Ryoma could squish one in one hand. Were they really to play with these? He could at least give it a try. Instead of starting with a warm-up, they just started, Ryoma serving first. Now this was an interesting site. Ryoma bounced the ball a couple times, finding that it actually bounced... a little. He would then toss it up, taking away most of the spin, and hit the ball. Tezuka was ready and the ball moved quickly... right into the net. Ryoma was quite shocked that his usually perfect serve went into the net. The same thing happened with his second serve. It really frustrated him. He was reserved to serve it normally, which went over the net and was returned. The game began, but Ryoma found him using even more than his normal strength to keep the ball out of the net (which he learned after losing 0-3 to Tezuka within ten minutes or so). Ryoma demanded quits after losing a set to Tezuka, with a miserable score of him losing 1-6.

Lunch was quite uninteresting. Many pairs ate before them, while others had yet to finish their day's schedule. Some, however, were in the dining hall with the pillar pair walked into the building. Yuuta was playing cards with Fudomine's Shinji Ibu, Kamio Akira, St. Rudolph's Shinya Yanagisawa, and Hyotei's Atobe Keigo. By the look, they were playing poker and Atobe was the dealer (Told by the amounts of sparkles by Atobe's wonderful mood because he had yet to lose). Ryoma sat a couple tables away with Tezuka so he could watch the game.

"Ha-ha, I win again." Atobe announced, collecting the cards back in.

"I swear he cheats." Kamio hissed.

"If he cheats, than that's bad. And bad guys are always wrong and need to be stopped. But bad guys usually have some odd laugh or something. But he doesn't have some odd laugh. He's just odd and it's really annoying. And those sparkles are just out of the normal as well. What man has sparkles around them all the time? Is it because he's so happy? And his happiness is just-"

"Shut up, will you!?" Atobe chucked a crumpled up napkin at Shinji, who then shut up. The Hyotei member dealt out a new hand of cards and every hit or passed.

"Call. Royal Straight." Atobe placed his cards down, smirking. The sparkles glowing brightly. Shinji silently placed down his four of a kind, Kamio slamming down his cards, Yanagisawa huffing, and Yuuta just stared at his card.

"Uh.. I think I won." All eyes moved to Yuuta. "Royal Flush beats royal straight, right?" Yuuta placed his cards down. Even Ryoma was trying to make sense of the sudden win of Yuuta.

"What's everyone concentrating so hard on...?" Fuji's voice seemed to fade as he looked to the table. "Yuuta actually won at poker!" The elder brother seemed to tackle hug his younger brother, who almost fell off his seat.

"That's impossible. No one ever beats me." Atobe huffed.

"Consider yourself defeated, Atobe." The captain of Hyotei seemed to glare daggers at the owner of the voice.

"Who included you in on this, Tezuka? Just because he's under your command (Ryoma: mutter Man does it sound like Kunimitsu is running an army) doesn't mean you can but in." Tezuka rolled his eyes.

"Sore losers are sore losers." Atobe huffed before pointing at Yuuta.

"I demand a rematch!" Blue hues glared at the third year.

"Forget it. Me and Yuuta are going off to have brother bonding time (Ryoma: Does anyone else how wrong that sounds from an incestual pair?) and I won't allow you to intrude on that time." And with that, Yuuta was dragged away from the poker game, though he wasn't really complaining...which might be due to him still stunned he actually won at poker. Who knows why he was playing poker to begin with, especially with people he barely knew (minus Yanagizawa, who he unfortunately had to say he knew).

"How about you two? You wanna play?" Atobe addressed Tezuka and Ryoma, not even taking care to listen to Shinji and Kamio who were discussing their afternoon plans and possibly leaving the game in a minute.

"We'll pass. We're off to go back to training." Tezuka's words drew Ryoma's attention. The two Seigaku players soon got up and left the building. Ryoma walked alongside Tezuka.

"So what are we doing now?" Ryoma had forgotten already. We're heading to the shed to get a football, and then we'll find just a clearing and throw it back and forth." This caused Ryoma to blink.

"How does that work?" Tezuka sighed.

"Throwing a football is like serving. It has all the same motions, including the flicking of the wrist. Since we have to use foam balls, throwing a football helps us keep a good serve. And you want to catch the football with your hands together, so you remember to keep them together when playing." Ryoma nodded. It made sense, he supposed. The camp was just odd. He wondered if they were trying to turn them all into the next Olympic players or the next top players in the world.

The football thing wasn't that bad, minus the fact that he couldn't exactly throw the football or catch it. Tezuka's throws were perfect, but he could never catch them, or he'd catch and drop it. It took him a bit before he could catch it. But as for his throws, Ryoma either did it too high or too low, and so it caused a little trouble for Tezuka, who actually seemed to be enjoying himself (which Ryoma believed by the other laughing and commented at how horrible Ryoma was at throwing a football). He soon got the hang of throwing a football, but it was short-lived, for Eiji came and interrupted it.

"Hoi hoi, nya. Ready for volleyball, nya?" He would tilt his head to the side. The two boys nodded, Tezuka returned the football before the three moved to the volleyball courts. They were actually made with sand, and there were three or four of them. There could be more, but they'd have to be in some other area. Ryoma surely was lost on such a large ground, having only explored a small section of the very large training grounds. The pillar pair removed their shoes and joined the golden pair, and the match got underway. Ryoma was slightly better at volleyball versus when he first tried it when they first met Rokkaku Chu. Tezuka could cover for him on the harder ones, but he still found himself falling short on many. The golden pair were even in sync when it came to volleyball. The game lasted half an hour, Ryoma and Tezuka making a good pair when it really came down to it, but they still lost. Ryoma couldn't take so many losses in one day.

"Tezuka Ryoma" Ryoma was ready to just collapse on the sand when he heard Fuji's voice calling them. Did they really have to go right off to their doubles match? Sadly, yes. Tezuka found himself carrying Ryoma to the courts, the first year ready to have a fit of being exhausted. Luckily for Ryoma, Yuuta was on his side and all for them having a short break. The first year and second year were just collapsed against each other while Fuji and Tezuka talked.

"Bouchou is so planned out." Yuuta huffed.

"I get dragged everywhere and anywhere by Aniki. Running, running, running. I think I've run more than anything, and the two hours of tennis. I swear my arm will fall off soon. And he was insisting on an hour of swimming. Are the third years made out of steel or something?" Ryoma found himself smirking.

"Yes, they are. They're true beings to fear. And they want us to be the same way. So Seigaku will be a team to be feared." Yuuta moved to sit up, Ryoma falling over. His shocked face caused Fuji to chuckle.

"You two ready over there?" Tezuka asking surprised the others, but the two younger boys just nodded and the game began. The Fuji brothers made a good pairing, able to give the pillar pair a run for their money. Ryoma made good net, but still lacked the ability to play doubles. Tezuka found himself being patient with Ryoma and handling the balls the first year couldn't reach. He wondered if this was exactly like the golden pair's feelings.

Ryoma was ready to collapse after an hour of their game, the score 4-5, 30-45, and it was his serve. What got him was that Fuji had no problem with returning, and Yuuta made a pretty good net person (Tezuka was also noticing this and began to ponder placing the two boys as a doubles pair for a tournament at the ending of summer). And their game concluded a second later with the Fuji brothers winning 6-4.

"Can we skip the whole running, Bouchou?" Ryoma was collapsed on the courts, sweat trickling down his skin.

"Fine. You did work quite a bit today. Don't forget to eat dinner later." Ryoma gave a mock salute as he got up and shuffled back to the house he occupied. He was so glad to find it empty, and took a shower. He felt so much better after that, especially all clean and in new clothes. He retreated to his room, where he collapsed onto his bed. He did fall asleep.

"Man, why am I doing this?" Yuuta huffed, knocking on the door. At the silence, he opened it and just blinked. Grey orbs just watched the sleeping boy. "Figures." Yuuta walked over and shook Ryoma awake. "Wake up, Ryoma."

"Eh?" Ryoma rubbed his eyes. "Yuuta-senpai?"

"Yah, I got sent to bring you to dinner." To Ryoma, something smelt nice...something sweet.

"Yuuta-senpai smells so sweet." Yuuta grabbed Ryoma out of the bed.

"Wake up and let's go." Ryoma blinked at getting pulled and just followed. They slipped on their shoes and went to the dining hall. It was a little crowded, but they had seats reserved at a predominantly Seigaku table. The exception to the thing was Saeki, who seemed to like joining them at activities, and Fuji didn't help at all since he encouraged it.

Dinner was rather eventful. Between Yanagizawa and Shinji, several fights broke out between Fudomine and St. Rudolph. Not real fights, more like food fights. Several unlucky people, such as Atobe, Sengoku, Ryou Kisarazu, Niou, and Yagyuu (Akaya laughed at how both were so unlucky and ended up getting double the amount of food due to his act). Somehow a food fight awoke the burning mode Taka, who managed to nail Atobe right in the face and got Mizuki in the back of the head with some mashed potatoes. Yuuta had taken refuge under the table with Ryoma, both wanting nothing to do with the food fight (Fuji did join it, but Tezuka was stern and trying to get people to stop, with some help from Yukimura).

"We could make a run for it. We might be able to make it the short dash to the door." Ryoma nodded, it sounded good. Both boys sprinted and made it out the door, barely missing getting hit with anything, but they did manage to witness Tezuka get hit by spaghetti. Someone was in trouble. But it wasn't them and they got out of all of that.

"Stay out of trouble. I'll catch you later." Yuuta left Ryoma outside the building, Ryoma wanting to wait on purpose, but the other wanted to go to bed. But as soon as the other departed, Ryoma found his cell ringing.

"Hello?" Ryoma answered to hear a familiar voice on the other end.

"Ryoma, how's camp?"

"It's fine, Oyaji." Ryoma just watched the sun set that was playing out. It would be more interesting than anything his father had to say.

"Your mother might not be home for your return. She's gone back to America for a bit, her friend got sick." Ryoma found himself blinking.

"Eh?"

"Yah. You remember her friend Sue?"

"Yah."

"She got sick and so your mom has gone to help her out with things."

"Ah."

"Don't worry about the house, Nanako will be helping out." Ryoma figured that to be good, since his father was worse at keeping clean than he was.

"Okay."

"Is everything alright?" Ryoma blinked.

"Fine, Oyaji. Is kaa-san better?"

"She's fine. Did she do anything to you?"

"No. I need to go, have an evening run to get to." Ryoma hung up without letting his father reply. It seemed how he was lately; not wanting to hear what people had to say. But Ryoma was snapped from this thinking when something gooey ran down his back. "Eww..." Ryoma tried to figure out what it was while trying to get it out of his back.

"It's only spaghetti." Golden orbs looked up to Tezuka. The elder blinked at Ryoma, who looked like he would cry. "Was it that cruel a joke?" But he soon found himself the cling thing for Ryoma.

"No. It's not you." Tezuka moved the other away a little, catching a glimpse of a faint tear escape the other. He drew a hand up to wipe away the marks.

"There's no need to cry. Whatever is making you sad, I'll make you happy." It sounded a little cliché, yah, but it didn't really matter because Ryoma actually liked the words. It was as if Tezuka was screaming he's concerned about him and likes him. Ryoma couldn't think long for he found his lips meeting Tezuka, initiated by the taller male. Slender fingers roamed through dark locks, small digits attached to the elder's shirt.

"Ahem. Please don't swap spit outside the dinner hall. Get a room. Then you can do more." Ryoma and Tezuka quickly separated, both with red faces. "Tsk, tsk, don't let me stop you. I'm just stating a fact." Fuji walked off after getting a death glare from Tezuka.

"I should get back to the house before it gets too dark. See you tomorrow, Bouchou." Ryoma darted off. His face was red beyond compare. And his situation didn't help when he walked into the house.

"Echizen, there you are. You're going to be my partner tomorrow." Ryoma blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me. You're my partner tomorrow. Tezuka will be partners with Jiroh." Ryoma wondered how Atobe got paired up with Jiroh when he was usually with that scary tall guy who only said 'usu' and was like a human wall.

"Whatever." Ryoma walked off and into his room. It was quiet since Dan was still out. Ryoma just collapsed on the bed, eyes closing so quickly and sleep coming even faster. Tomorrow would be another rough day, but even more interesting since he now was partnered with Atobe...and who knows what the captain of Hyotei might schedule.

--

That's been the longest it's taken me to update. And it's not even a good chapter. Some little moments, but not much. Just long nothingness. It sucks in my opinion, but who cares about my opinion. But I hit the poker part and was like "omg, I wanna make a KamioxShinji fic. And a DuckSushi one, even though I'm not a big fan of it." But I really just need to stop getting ideas for new fics when I have a couple that I need to update quicker and finish (Like this one). Ha-ha, anyway. R&R.


	8. His Day

x.x I really need more free time to do my fics. Tennis matches take up most of my week. At least today was nice for Saturday practice (Us deciding it was the perfect day to go to the beach). Anyway... Right to the fic, to the fic. Enjoy and R&R.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see; it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO.

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

Ryoma lay on his bed for a while. Why did he agree to partner up with Atobe for the day? He must have wanted to escape. His mind wasn't even concentrating on the other in the room, who was currently talking to him.

"Aniki might be annoyed you switched partners." Ryoma shrugged and rolled over to look at the grey orbed male.

"Oh well. I don't even wanna think about it." Ryoma looked elsewhere, trying to keep his cheeks from tinting any darker than the current shade of pink.

"Ne, what'd you do with Tezuka-Bouchou that makes you blush, hm?" Yuuta was leaning against the bed, and it made Ryoma sit up.

"Nothing." Yuuta smirked.

"Lie. I'm a Fuji, I can tell when someone lies." Ryoma huffed. Stupid Fuji's and their ability to read through most people (Yes, most, for Yuuta couldn't figure his own brother out).

"I...I kissed him, kay?" Yuuta found himself patting Ryoma on the head.

"I bet it was a couple times to make you figure your wording." Ryoma smacked the hand away.

"Doesn't matter. Won't Fuji-senpai be by soon?" Yuuta shook his head.

"Atobe sent Tezuka a message of your decision, so Aniki decided to pair up with Tezuka. I'm in charge of Jiroh for the day..." Yuuta sighed. He could still remember playing Jiroh so long ago.

"Have fun with that." Both boys shut up at the sound of knocking at the door.

"Ryoma, let's go. We start training now." Atobe opened the door to look at the boys. After flicking some hair from his face, he'd point at Yuuta. "Jiroh is asleep near the trampoline. Have fun."

"Right." Yuuta cast Ryoma a glance, giving a short nod, before brushing past Atobe to go look for the sleeping male. Ryoma sighed as he got up, tugging his cap on.

"Today will be special. We'll tan, and then swim, a match, and then lunch. The afternoon shall be a doubles match with Shishido and Choutarou. That will be followed by an afternoon run, then probably relax for a bit with Jiroh and that younger Fuji, then dinner and that ends our day." Ryoma found himself nodding. Was it him, or was Atobe more light on training than Tezuka? "Then let's go." Ryoma found himself getting dragged off. He was glad to have viewed the possibility that they'd swim in the morning and wore his swim trunks. The pool area had chairs for tanning, where he soon found himself laying. Atobe tugged on his sunglasses and just made himself comfy. Ryoma, on the other hand, found himself unable to get comfortable at first. He had kicked off his socks and shoes, but it didn't help him at all. His body didn't like being inactive, but it didn't last long for he was soon fast asleep.

"It's not good to sleep in the sun." Ryoma found himself gazing right at Atobe. He shot right up, missing smacking foreheads with the third year by a split second.

"Gomen." The first year rubbed his eyes.

"O-chibi-chan" Golden orbs looked to see Eiji swimming over.

"Eiji-senpai."

"Ah, perfect timing." Atobe would tug Ryoma's cap off the boy's head before tugging off his shirt and pushing the first year to the water. "Jump in. Time for a swim." Ryoma didn't say a word, just jump right in, Eiji seeming to catch him.

"You're partners with him?" Oishi nodded to Atobe and Ryoma nodded.

"Yah." Atobe slipped into the water.

"Good timing, golden pair. How about a swimming match?"

"Nya, only if I get to swim against O-chibi." Atobe waved his hand casually.

"Fine." And that's how their swimming time was spent, the group racing. Somehow, Niou and Yagyuu, as well as Ryo and Atsushi Kisarazu, joined in their swimming race. It always made things interesting, since everyone was actually having fun, even Atobe (mostly since he was outracing his opponents). Everyone seemed to part at the same time, Eiji and Oishi first, then Atobe and Ryoma, and so on.

"Match time." Ryoma wondered how everyone remembered what they had planned for the day, but didn't ponder it too long. He just hated playing matches with the tiny foam balls. And he had good reason to hate the balls. He lost the match with Atobe 3-6, but managed to return and keep a good rally.

The dining hall wasn't too crowded for lunch today. Ryoma wanted to go sit with some of the members from Seigaku, but was tugged off by Atobe to sit with Hyotei members, the only one missing being Jiroh. Ryoma ate in silence, not really wanting to engage in conversation.

"We'll head to the courts when we're all done." Atobe informed Ryoma, Shishido and Choutarou. Silence met him for the other three could care less about the schedule. Ryoma would rather just be goofing off, or at least be with Tezuka. Too bad life just couldn't be that easy.

And of that match that was to come? Ryoma shaped up and him and Atobe managed to beat Shishido and Choutarou with a score of 7-5. Atobe often blamed Ryoma for missed points, it was probably correct in blaming the singles player for being horrible. But his happiness from winning was quickly shot after him and Atobe had been running for an hour straight. He swore he kept seeing the same tree over and over. How big was the camp that they could run the main grounds and not have a true ending destination? Ryoma didn't have time to wonder too long for he tripped and fell flat on his face, Atobe stopping to look back at him.

"Ah, finally found you." Ryoma looked to notice Jiroh gazing tiredly at him, only then did the first year realize that he tripped over the second year. Yuuta moved around the tree to tug Ryoma away as Atobe sat down next to his kohai.

"Yuuta, how long have you been in this area?" Yuuta tried to think.

"Too long." Ryoma sighed as he leaned against the other, a soft yawn escaping his lips.

"Have you seen Tezuka or Fuji-senpai?" Yuuta shook his head.

"I'm starting to wonder if they dropped off the face of the earth or if Aniki caused them to explode with no noise." Ryoma could see the two getting lost because Fuji willed it.

"That'd be funny..." Yuuta blinked at sudden silence meeting him, so he looked down at the first year. His eye twitched at Ryoma being cuddly with his arm and being fast asleep. How was anyone expected to sleep most of the day away and sleep through the night? The second year just sighed and closed his eyes. He guessed he'd just go back to playing make-pretend and pretend that he was currently sitting somewhere calming and not surrounded by annoying people and everything was just calming. Somehow this thought put him to sleep.

Ryoma had a weird dream. He dreamt of being torn to choose between Atobe and Tezuka, but Fuji was being the judge on who got custody of the boy. Tezuka won custody of the first year and he went to live with Tezuka, who was married to Fuji and Yuuta was their son. But then Fuji became female and Yuuta had an Oedipus complex, being in love with his mother. But then somehow he was just with Tezuka, the other half of the family just disappearing from being. The two were no longer father and son, but their correct positions as Captain and first year. Scenery changed to be the clubroom and Ryoma found himself pinned to the wall by Tezuka. The elder male was saying his name gently as his hand slipped into his pants. His name was continued to be called even as he shut his eyes and tried to tell the other someone would see. Suddenly his dream was shattered and his head collided with something hard.

"Are you alright, Tezuka?" Golden orbs focused to notice he had a tight grip of Yuuta's arm, who had looked to be in a little pain, and Fuji was laced around his brother staring at Tezuka who was rubbing his forehead.

"Your first years need more training, Tezuka." Atobe snickered, peering from the other side of the tree.

"Sorry." Ryoma released the younger Fuji and stared at the ground.

"Saa... don't worry about it, Echizen. We came to gather you guys up for dinner."

"Dinner sounds nice." All jumped at hearing Jiroh speak. Did anyone even realize he was up and talking? Probably not, but dinner was now on all their minds, so they went off to eat. Dinner was much better than the night before. No food fight erupted. The three pairs ate with the golden pair, Gakuto, and Oshitari.

"Yuuta, partners tomorrow?" Fuji stole a little bit of Yuuta's dinner.

"Whatever." Yuuta actually wanted to be back with his brother. Anything was better than doing absolutely nothing all day. He had even contemplated that he was indeed weak if Jiroh slept all day and was able to defeat him. As happy as Yuuta was, it was clear that Fuji was even happier.

"You can have Echizen back, Tezuka." Atobe seemed to want to say more but had to push Jiroh from leaning against him. "Keep to your own space." He would then clear his throat. "As fun as it was, he makes a poor singles player on the court and is horrible to practice with." How Tezuka wanted to say he already knew, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Fine." Ryoma was thankful for not getting pushed off on anyone else. And he actually liked Tezuka's crazy schedule over Atobe's simple one.

"Ne, Yuuta. I wanna go for a walk." Fuji poked at his brother.

"Then go on one by yourself." Fuji pouted.

"So mean. I want you to come with me." Fuji then looked to Tezuka and Ryoma. "If Tezuka asked you, you'd go on a walk with him, right Ryoma?"

"Uh yah." Ryoma blinked, was that what Fuji wanted to hear?

"See. Pretty please, Yuu-chan?" Yuuta stuffed the rest of the pie in his mouth to keep from answering his brother.

"A walk sounds nice." Ryoma muttered under his breath. He felt like he had done little over the day, most since he fell asleep for most of the evening.

"Care to go on a walk?" Golden orbs looked up at the third year.

"Sure." Ryoma looked away to hide away pink tinted cheeks. He managed to notice Fuji now tugging Yuuta away and out the door. He wondered why Yuuta always put up such a show when it was the two of them, he would admit that he doesn't really object to most of Fuji's crazy ideas (minus the really crazy ones that could mean pain or humiliation on his part). Yuuta was Yuuta and Fuji-senpai was just a weird brother obsessed senpai.

"You were talking in your sleep." Tezuka broke the silence of their walk. The sun was disappearing over the horizon, almost gone.

"Eh? What did I say?' Ryoma was actually curious.

"We came to hear you saying something about Fuji making a horrible mother. I was a perverted father. And that someone would see us." Ryoma's face flushed bright red. "Care to share your dream?"

"Fuji-senpai was a judge and decided you got custody of me instead of Atobe, but then Fuji-senpai was Bouchou's wife and Yuuta-senpai was your kid, but Yuuta-senpai was in love with Fuji-senpai and they left us, but then everything was back to normal." Ryoma ended it there, shivering a little from the summer's night becoming cold. Tezuka pulled the younger boy closer, keeping an arm around him.

"Kunimitsu was mean and spoke too much while playing." Ryoma huffed, earning a glance from Tezuka. By the third person, he believed Ryoma was talking about the dream him. Tezuka also guessed them him calling Ryoma's name entered the boy's dream.

"That might've been my fault." Ryoma blushed looking up.

"You talk to much and I'll break up with you." Tezuka blinked.

"Since when were we officially dating?" Ryoma huffed, looking away.

"Now. And as I said...if we ever get...that intimate as my dream, and you continuously call out my name, I'm breaking up with you. Got it?" Tezuka couldn't help but ruffle Ryoma's hair.

"Understood." Ryoma paused in step, Tezuka stopped. "Something wrong?" Ryoma moved closer to the elder boy.

"Would we ever get that intimate?" Ryoma always had known more about being intimate than he should have, having known too much when he had first entered middle school.

"Depends, I suppose. Circumstances in the future might open doors that might not otherwise open." Ryoma nodded. It was a suitable answer, as soon as he figures out exactly what it meant.

"I'll take it as a maybe sometime in the future." Tezuka drew the other boy close, their body heat mixing together. He would then kiss the younger boy.

"Exactly." Their scene would've gone further had both not remembered exactly where they were and what they had been talking about prior. Or maybe it was sudden voices. Atsushi and Ryo happened upon the two.

"Sorry." The twins apologized for their intrusions.

"Night, Bouchou. See you tomorrow." Ryoma took off running, looking back to smile and give a small wave. He felt like being a little kid. Maybe he was acting more like a little kid who just got a new toy or had a secret and was dying to tell it to someone. Whatever it was, he was just acting childish and didn't care.

--

End to this chapter. It was...crappy once again. Been so busy. Saa...but I get too much influence to want to write other fics (such as one that I was just influenced to write about various characters reverting back to childhood). Anyway...I plan to wrap this up soon enough since it's getting a little boring to me (then again I'm poor at writing long fics, they tend to lose whatever summary I put for them). Tell me what you think. Review if you want.


	9. His CD

x.x God, I've been so busy (and lazy). I really needed to get around to updating fics. So I'm updating. This fic will end like the next chapter or the one after that. Probably this will be the last chapter and next will be a sequel chapter. Anyway... R&R. Enjoy.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic. And I do not own the small section at the beginning that you see; it's from a Harry Potter doujin (Yah, HP) called Love Songs by Mitugu Fujii/G-ZERO.

--

_If only I could pass these feelings to you too. If I whisper love enough, the future I will live doesn't seem so terrible. I'll say plenty "It's all right" to you. If everything has been thrown away, if you can't survive on your own, "you can rely on me." Because I will become the boy who can make you believe it. And so, I always want to listen to these love songs with you._

Ryoma was watching the scenery pass by as the bus rolled on. He was so glad that camp was over. He disliked getting tossed between partners. Ah, but he wouldn't complain when paired with Tezuka or Yuuta. Atobe was just...awkward and had attempted to get the other boy to play some weird game with him. Jiroh just slept. Fuji tried to get the first year to drink the new and improved Inui juice, that had knocked out the golden pair and several members of Rokkaku Chu's team and Yamabuki (Ryoma had gotten stuck with a sick Dan for a day and switched rooms with Saeki, who was also sick. But Yuuta didn't complain, saying something about stupid flirting third years).

Currently the first year was aboard a bus on his way back to Seishun Gakuen with his teammates. Tezuka and Oishi were sitting together going over training schedules. Momo was passed out right next to him. Yuuta and Fuji sat in front of him, both brothers arguing. All he really understood was that Fuji-senpai wanted to dress up like a girl and go on a date with the younger brother, but Yuuta never wants to see his brother cross-dressing. Or was it an objection to the date? Whatever. Everyone else was spread about the bus.

As the bus pulled up in front of the school, Oishi made sure to wake everyone up. The group filed off the bus and onto school grounds. It was just about empty. Well of course, it was still summer break. Like anyone wanted to be on school grounds during break (minus those dedicated sports teams).

"We're not having any mandatory practices between now and the first day back at school. Just get out and hit. School resumes in a week, so be prepared for intersquad matches. Dismissed." Tezuka announced. Fuji started to pull Yuuta off away, something about getting ready for their date. Ryoma just shook his head.

"Oi, Tezuka, got plans for the day before we go back to school?" Ryoma smirked up at the taller male. He still couldn't compare in height to the senior.

"Not really." The elder male adjusted his glasses.

"Good. We're going to the movies. There was this really cool samurai movie that just came out and I wanna see it. I'll call with the times later." Tezuka gave a nod.

"Alright." Ryoma loved how easy it was to get dates out of the other. He would've walked away and not given the elder male a chance to respond had he not known that Tezuka would've responded positively.

Turning on his heels, Ryoma gave a wave back before walking away. He took in the walk home. It felt so nice to be walking familiar streets. Everything just seemed so welcoming. The comforting sight was his house. The first year tugged open the door and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

"Tadaima." Ryoma tugged off his shoes.

"Welcome home, Ryoma-kun." He blinked at his cousin. What was she doing her?

"Ah, Ryoma. Good good. Let's go play a match." Ryoma tugged his cap down at his father walking out from the kitchen.

"Mada mada." He didn't feel like coming home from camp to play more tennis right away. He stepped into the house.

"Ah, come on. I've been waiting for you to come home so we can play." Ryoma pushed past his father.

"Go read those weird magazines of your's, Oyaji."

"Aw."

"Where's Kaa-san?" Ryoma blinked.

"Welcome home, Ryoma." Golden hues looked over to the female, who was smiling at him but frowned. "What'd I say about the hat on in the house. Off, off." Ryoma huffed as he took his hat off.

"When is dinner?"

"In an hour." Ryoma nodded and headed to his room. It felt like old times. But why was his cousin over? Didn't she own her own apartment now?

As he rested on his bed, Ryoma let his mind wander. Was his mother alright now? Would his family actually be normal? What kind of dates should he go on with Tezuka. Tezuka! Ryoma totally forgot about the movie times. So he scrambled to search the house for the newspaper.

"Ryoma, what in the world are you looking for?" Ryoma heard his mother call to him.

"Newspaper." He replied shortly.

"Uncle Nanjiro had it last." His cousin replied from the kitchen.

"Domo." Ryoma replied as he headed out back. His father was reading the newspaper, resting up next to the giant bell. As he approached, his father looked over the newspaper at him.

"Did you change your mind about the match?"

"No, I want the newspaper, Oyaji." Ryoma huffed, holding his hand out for the newspaper.

"What for?" Nanjiro went back to reading, flipping the page.

"Movie times. I have a date to plan for." The elder male almost fell from his spot at his son's words. His son had a date?

"Is she cute? How old is she? Does she have a huge chest? Or maybe she's a total babe. Why didn't you bring her over? How long have you been dating? Why haven't you told me sooner?" Ryoma snatched the newspaper away as soon as his father got close enough.

"Why all the questions? Like I'm gunna let a perverted old man know my business." The Seishun student retreated back to his room, flopping on his bed with the newspaper. There were several different times playing. He grabbed his phone and dialed the captain's number.

"Hello?" Ryoma smirked.

"There are so many times. Any time you're thinking about?" Ryoma was looking over the times.

"Not too late. How long is the movie?"

"Hm, an hour and a half."

"Any starting around seven?" Ryoma hummed.

"There's one playing at a theater in Shinjuku that starts at seven. There's one not far from school that starts at quarter after."

"The one not far from school would be fine." Ryoma nodded.

"Alright. Then I'll call and see if I can reserve two tickets."

"I'll do it. I know what movie you're thinking of." Ryoma chuckled.

"Fine by me."

"Mhm. Then I'll call you at another time if we have nothing else to talk about." Was he hanging up on him? How Ryoma wanted to laugh.

"Fine. Later." They hung up. Ryoma blinking at his door slamming open.

"Was that her? What'd she say? What movie are you going to see? Where?" Ryoma rolled the newspaper up, getting to his feet. He shoved the papers into his father's hands before pushing the elder man out of his room.

"Get out, Oyaji. Take the papers with you." Ryoma slammed the door shut behind his father and locked the door.

Dinner went by quickly. Ryoma glaring at his father who wouldn't shut up about his date. His mother and cousin both caught on that Ryoma didn't want to hear about it, but somehow his father kept missing that memo.

Ryoma spent the next couple days playing matches with Yuuta, when he wasn't getting dragged around Tokyo by his brother, and Momoshiro, when he wasn't trying to beat up Kamio (In that case he'd play a set with Shinji while their teammates bickered).

Ryoma walked up to the movie theatre, blinking at seeing the other already there. Well, of course. Ryoma had been running late since he had taken several trains and buses to get rid of his father who had been trying to follow him. He lost his father when in Shibuya station.

The movie had been a total killer. It was better than any other samurai movie. The couple could've done without the sex scene, but it was still awesome.

"Man. I wish I was a samurai. I would chop of Momo-senpai's limbs for every time he got into an argument with that player from Fudomine." Ryoma blinked. "But he wouldn't have any limbs left." Tezuka chuckled.

"There would be a sight." Ryoma huffed.

"I'd be an awesome samurai. I'd by like, super fast." Ryoma pretended to have a sword and swing quickly. "And then I'd beat them up and flick my ponytail all cool like and state 'Mada Mada Dane" and walk away all cool like."

Tezuka chuckled. "Don't kill anyone." Ryoma smirked.

"Of course I won't kill anyway, Kunimitsu. But if they hurt you, then I won't hold back." Tezuka patted the younger boy on the head.

Ryoma was so bored as he sat in his desk. His father had given him a talking to about ditching in some weird unkown area for an hour after he returned from his date with Tezuka. He had simply told the older male they had been dating for a while and went to bed. Now he sat waiting for the lunch bell to ring. He wasn't paying attention to the english teacher at all, she knew that Ryoma was fluent in the language and thus never expected him to participate. He was taping a cd on his desk, just watching the second hand go around the clock. He was slowly counting down, ignoring the assignment being given. The bell suddenly screamed and Ryoma shot right out the door with some other classmates. He was up the halls of the high school in a second flat, tearing into a third year classroom. Some of the students were blinking at the first year, but they were only eating.

"Ryoma?" Oishi spoke. He was sitting in the seat in front of Tezuka, both looking at a text book.

"Here. Listen to it later." Ryoma placed the cd on the desk and took off back for his classroom.

Tezuka rested on his bed, turning the cd case over and over in his hands. There was no cover, no way of knowing what exactly was on the cd. So he did what he had to, popped it into his cd player.

"I wanted to share these love songs with you." Ryoma's voice was crisp and clear against his ear drums before soft music hit his ears. Something about it seemed a little unlike Ryoma, yet still like the younger male at the same time. But, of course, it makes one wonder if the first year really listens to that kind of stuff, or if he just happened upon it. No matter what, it conveys his feelings towards the captain and neither would have it any other way.

--

Such a crappy ending. xD But I'm totally out of ideas for this fic, just like I was with Chigiri towards the end. I'll probably do some one shots that're pillar pair later on. I have a long list of fics to do, finish, or post. Anyway. This one is complete. All that's left is for you to read the sequel. Review.


	10. Their future, sequel chapter

So I quickly went right to work on the sequel chapter, since I'm actually extremely bored. Why am I the only one out of school right now? -coughs- I'm only out because I graduated, but that's besides the point. I've been pondering taking up comissions, since I have the free time (and most of the time I'm dying of boredom without any RPs going on). I'll do any pairings, and make them extremely interesting if I love the pairings myself. But that's enough rambling. Onto the fic. Enjoy and R&R.

Dedicated: To my loyal fan squishythejellyfish.

Summary: Sequel to Chigiri, Promise. Ryoma returns and the high school life plays out. Pillar Pairing, with side Fujicest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, nor any characters in this fic.

--

Ryoma sat tapping his pencil on the desk. It was slightly agitating. He wasn't able to pay attention to the current lesson going on. His cell phone was resting on his lap. He wanted to stay in good contact with his boyfriend. Tezuka had always been so smart, and was even accepted into Tokyo U. All with common knowledge knew it was hard to get accepted.

Ryoma wondered how long they had been dating? A while now, wasn't it? The male was still at Seishun Gakuen, currently a second year. Summer would be starting in a week and it would mean he could see the elder male more.

"Ryoma." The said male blinked, looking at the chocolate locked male.

"Yuuta-senpai, what're you doing here?" Yuuta shook his head.

"It's the end of the day. Let's go." Ryoma nodded.

Tezuka had left Yuuta to be the Captain of the tennis team behind him, not trusting Kaoru or Momo together in charge. Ryoma was his vice captain, taking over when the year would let out. Ryoma had objected to being Captain and thus position fell upon Yuuta, who would never hear the end of it from his elder brother. Fuji was currently at a university in Kyoto, coming home when he could.

"Don't you think age differences suck?" Ryoma muttered to the other male as they walked down the hallway, Ryoma sending his current message to Tezuka.

"What brought that on?"

"I was just thinking."

"Hm, well it does. But there's nothing we can do about it. Were you thinking about Tezuka-san again?" Ryoma stuffed his phone away.

"Forget it." Yuuta chuckled. Ryoma frowned. The more he looked at it, Yuuta was becoming more like his elder brother.

"Why don't you just call him? It'd save you your sanity." Ryoma huffed.

"That's right. I still have mine. You lost yours the day your were born into Fuji-senpai's family." Ryoma still swore that that family were completely unnormal. Yuuta shrugged.

"Maybe. Don't be late for practice. We have Fudomine coming for practice matches." Ryoma nodded, like he needed reminding.

"When do I finally get to meet your mystery girlfriend?" Why was Ryoma's father still on this? Ryoma was passed out next to the table, his father was reading the newspaper, his mother was in the kitchen. As if on que, to get him out of the situation, his phone went off.

"Hello?" Ryoma answered, frowning at the voice on the other end.

"It's been a while, Ryoma-kun."

"Fuji-senpai." There was a chuckle on the other end.

"We're having a small summer party at our house and we're inviting you and your family. Tezuka and his parents are coming." Summer had already started.

"When?"

"This weekend."

"Hold on." Ryoma lowered his phone. "Fuji-senpai's family is having a summer party this weekend and wants us to come."

"Do you want to go, Ryoma-kun?" Ryoma watched his mother appear, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Yah."

"Then tell them we're coming." Ryoma nodded.

"We'll be there. What time?" Fuji smiled on the other end.

"Saturday. Come over any time after two." Ryoma got to his feet.

"Ah. Okay. I have a favor to ask, Fuji-senpai."

"I'm all ears."

Yuuta answered the doorbell when it rang. Stepping aside to let the family in.

"Chessu." Ryoma smirked at his senpai as he stepped in, leading him parents and cousin in. His mother had dragged Nanako along.

"Welcome." Yuuta gave a bow. The family took their shoes off and entered the house. Ryoma smiled at seeing Tezuka already there with his parents. Fuji was with his sister, talking, Tezuka with them. Yoshiko Fuji was talking with Tezuka's parents. As Ryoma and his family entered, Fuji elbowed his sister gently, whispering something to her.

"Ryoma-chan." Yumiko walked over and hugged the younger male. They had encountered each other before, but today would be something special. Ryoma muffled a little sound of surprise. "Ah, you must be Ryoma-chan's family. I'm Yumiko, Ryoma-chan's girlfriend. Isn't he so adorable?" Yumiko had taken up with playing with Ryoma's hair. The said male was trying to hold back a smirk at his father's jaw dropping. Nanako and Rinko had both covered their mouths.

"You hit it big time. She's a total babe." Ryoma mentally smacked his forehead at his father's words.

"She's so much older." It was all Rinko could say. Yuuta, who had joined his brother and Tezuka, was now chuckling.

"Nee-san makes a good actress."

"Saa...but it wouldn't work if Ryoma wasn't good at lying." Fuji laced an arm around his brother's shoulders.

"So why did he do this again?" Tezuka questioned, crossing his arms.

"To break the ice and introduce you properly to them. It was all his idea." Fuji smirked.

"She's not really my girlfriend, she's Fuji-senpai and Yuuta-senpai's older sister. I asked her to help me out." Ryoma now was smiling. "Arigato." He would give a nod to Yumiko, who kissed him on the forehead.

"It was fun. I like helping out Syuu-chan's and Yuu-chan's friends." Yuuta twitched.

"Don't use that nickname! I'm not a baby anymore, Nee-san!" Yuuta yelled from across the room.

"Yuu-chan, Yuu-chan, Yuu-chan." Syuusuke poked the other in the cheeks. Yuuta began to swat at the other. Tezuka took it at as his time to move over.

"Actually, I do want you to meet him."

"Hm?" Both parents looked at their son. Ryoma had taken a hold of Tezuka's hand.

"Kunimitsu-san, my parents. Oyaji, Kaa-san, my boyfriend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Rinko smiled and bowed. Ryoma knew she wouldn't be a problem. He looked to the one who would be.

"A guy? He looks extremely older, too. How old are you, thirty?" Tezuka twitched, Ryoma laughed.

"He's Tezuka-bouchou, Oyaji." Nanjiro scratched his head, thinking back.

"Wait, that Tezuka? The captain of Seigaku?" Ryoma and Tezuka nodded.

"Oh." Nanjiro fell silent.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Nanako, Ryoma's cousin." Tezuka shook her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, too." Ryoma knew exactly why Fuji had decided to create this little get together.

"If I didn't do it, you'd never get the point across to your family, Echizen-kun." Fuji poked the younger boy with his chopstick while they were eating.

"Domo." The boy replied shortly.

A week later, all members of Seishun's tennis club were gathered at the Echizen residence for a party. It felt like good times, including Inui bringing his newest Inui juices for losers of all their activities. Yah, they turned it into sports events. Playing anything from card games to tennis, and all between.

Tezuka left Tokyo University to go to Seishun University, to be with Ryoma. Alot of other regulars were there, Inui, Eiji, Momo, Oishi, Taka, and Kaoru. Yuuta left the school ring to go to St Rudolph University, going with the Kisarazu twins, Shinya, and Akazawa. Fuji was still in Kyoto, but halfway through the year, transferred to Tokyo University.

Tezuka and Ryoma sat alone in Tezuka's dorm room. The cd player playing soft music.

"I can't believe you still have it." Ryoma muttered, his words being silenced by a kiss.

"They're love songs. They're like you. I can never lose them. I always want to sit and listen to them with you." Ryoma smiled, he'd chosen the right person to end up with.

--

Crappy ending, but I really...I dunno. Trying to kill my internet because I had one episode to go before I finished watching Code Geass and it hates the site. Anyway, review.


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